


After the Hug

by dregsofthebarrel



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: F/M, Friendship, JulieandthePhantoms, JuliesHologramBand, Post-Canon, Season 2 Speculation, TellYourFriends, sunsetcurve
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-12
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-16 09:42:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 25,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28704621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dregsofthebarrel/pseuds/dregsofthebarrel
Summary: An imagining of what happens after the end of Season 1 of Julie and the Phantoms on Netflix. Julie and the boys must navigate what comes next. They want the band to succeed but first they must figure out if the curse is really gone and make sure their secret doesn't get out.Updated on Thursdays
Comments: 2
Kudos: 51





	1. After the Show

**Author's Note:**

> I am kind of new to this so let me know what you think!

Julie spent much longer in the garage than she thought she would. She didn’t want to keep Carlos waiting, but after the hug, she didn’t want to leave them either. What happened if it reversed? Was this just a one time thing? Julie’s mind was racing but mostly she felt relief. They didn’t cross over and she doesn’t have to say goodbye. Again. She is so tired of goodbyes. 

Closing the garage door, she takes a moment to gather herself, her face is a mess from all the crying, happy tears at least. After the year she has had, and especially these last few weeks, that is probably not all that unusual for Carlos to see. Inside, Julie sees her garment bag draped over the side of the couch and Carlos is sitting in the armchair with a single lamp on. 

“Dad’s making us your favorite late night snack, PBJ’s.” Carlos says and extends his hand for Julie to sit down on the couch across from him. 

“What do you want to know?” Julie deicides to start on the defense, after all how could he have figured it out? He was probably just messing around.

“I know your band is made of ghosts. A band from the 90’s, Sunset Swerve or something.” 

“Sunset Curve” Julie corrects before she can stop herself. Her face then goes blank as she realizes her mistake. Carlos leaps up “Aha! I knew it!” Julie slumps back in the couch accepting the fact that her secret is out. “Don’t tell Dad.” Julie glares at him and Carlos mimes zipping his mouth and throwing away the key. She rolls her eyes, her family is so dramatic. Of course that’s when exactly when he walks in, “Don’t tell me what?” He asks. In his hands is a plate of sandwiches, cut in small squares. 

“Oh my gosh! Adorable!” Julie shouts to distract her Dad from his question. “I’m starving,” Julie quickly starts stuffing her face with the baby sandwiches unable to answer questions while chewing. Carlos is still sitting in his armchair while Ray sits down on the couch next to Julie. He looks content and proud. “I’m so proud of both of you. I know your Mom would be so proud of you guys right now too. The people you've become,” he stops before they can hear the catch in his voice as he starts to tear up. They all sit in the comfortable silence, Julie can’t help but glance around to see if the boys are around, but they seem to be giving her some privacy right now. Carlos sees her looking and only raises an eyebrow. 

After the sandwiches are finished, Julie starts to nod off on the couch leaning against her Dad’s shoulder, “Why don’t you go to bed honey?” He gently pushes her off his shoulder, she flops to the armrest of the couch, “I don’t want this day to end.” She says opening her eyes, each blink long and slow. 

Ray nudges her up off the couch, up the stairs, to brush her teeth and to bed. In bed Ray sits on the edge and tucks her in super tight, just like he did when she was super small. “I can’t believe you are all grown up, pretty soon I will only see you when you come through town on tour.” Julie laughs and says, “We would come home for Christmas too.” 

“We? I get to meet the band.” 

Julie mumbles a sleepy maybe before falling asleep all the adrenaline, fear and excitement from the day washing away as she sinks into a deep sleep.


	2. Carlos Meets the Boys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carlos forces Julie to introduce him to Luke, Reggie and Alex.

The next morning Julie wakes up staring directly into Carlos’ eyes. Naturally, she screams before Carlos covers her mouth with his hand. She licks it until he removes it and is surprised that he tastes like bacon. “I want to meet them, are they here?” 

“What? You think they watch me sleep?” Sitting up in bed, “They know better than that, some people don’t.” She says with a pointed glare. Once up Julie sees her phone is full of unanswered texts from Flynn, Nick and a surprising one from Carrie. She clicks on the ones by Flynn and reads through leaving the rest unread. 

Carlos stands there while Julie frantically texts for several minutes. Last night after the exhaustion of the performance and finding the boys in the garage she had forgotten to tell Flynn that they didn’t cross over. Flynn responds with a flurry of emojis and Julie puts her phone down satisfied with the response for the moment. Looking up she sees Carlos who is still waiting in her room, he stands tapping his foot with his arms crossed, impatiently waiting for her to finish. Picking it up again, she reads through Nick’s texts and types out several replies before putting it back down, leaving him unanswered. “You can meet them after my breakfast and shower. If you make me breakfast while I am in the shower, it could be even sooner.” She says egging him on.

Carlos runs downstairs to make her the only breakfast he knows how, scrambled eggs. Ray had already made bacon before he left for work, leaving a note on the refrigerator. Carlos could hear Julie coming down from the shower and looked up, she was wearing jeans and a pink sweater. He runs over talking fast, “Here you go, come on.” 

“Let me eat first, geeze” Julie says. She sits down to eat and takes her time, both enjoying it and taunting Carlos. While she does enjoy watching Carlos squirm she was just about to put him out of his misery when the doorbell rings. 

It’s Nick. He’s standing on her doorstep with a bouquet of flowers. A couple months ago, this would be dream come true, she thinks, but now, with the band and Luke, she doesn’t know what to think. He’s acting weird but maybe they can just go back to being friends, put this awkward crush business behind them. Carlos is standing behind her waiting for him to leave and staring to make sure Nick’s left the driveway.

“I’ve been waiting forever,” Carlos says dramatically, “let’s go”. He then launches into his theories of how being a ghost works at a speed that Julie cannot understand, “Slow down, okay some basics. There’s Luke, Alex and Reggie. Luke plays guitar, Alex drums and Reggie the bass.” 

“I already knew that from the CD, and they died from hot dogs.”

“Maybe don’t mention that part to them?” She stops on the path and turns to look Carlos in the eyes, “And don’t bring up Trevor Wilson.” 

“Why?” 

“That’s a long story for another time.” 

As they walk up to the garage Julie starts to get nervous, she was stalling to annoy Carlos, but maybe she was also stalling for herself? What happens if they aren’t there? None of them knew why the curse was lifted or why they didn’t cross over. She puts on a brave face and opens the doors.

“Good morning!” 

No reply. Julie walks into the garage confused and worried. Everything looks normal. The piano is there, the sofa, chairs and coffee table where just a day ago they waited for the call from the Orpheum. Now it is silent. 

“Guys?” She calls out. Then she hears it, faint music coming from the loft. She walks over to the ladder and sticks her head through the hole in the floor. On the floor she sees Carlos’ laptop and the three of them crowded around the end credits of a movie. It sounds faintly like Star Wars music. 

Julie makes her voice low and does her best to imitate Darth Vader, “Luke. I. am. Your. Father.” All three jump into the air and Alex grabs Reggie. “Spoilers!” Alex says affronted. “That movie came out before you died.” Julie smirks.

“Hey, you don’t know if we watched it.” Julie glares and Reggie concedes throwing his hands up. 

“Come down, Carlos wants to meet you.” 

Reggie smirks, “We finally get to meet him huh?” 

“He figured it out, I owe it to him. Anyway, what are you guys doing watching Star Wars, you know what? I don’t want know.” As Julie asks, the boys poof down to surround Carlos, so she is merely talking to the empty loft space. Julie groans and grabs Carlos’ laptop before climbing down to where Carlos is standing looking excited and confused. 

“Did you find them?” 

“Yup, and here you go.” Julie hands him the laptop and goes over to sit on the sofa. She is startled when Alex poofs to sit next to her and confides in a whispery voice, “Reggie decided that if he didn’t cross over, he might as well find out what a Jar Jar is.” Reggie and Luke are standing by Carlos poking him and being generally childish.

“Okay everyone, let’s make some introductions.” Julie sounds annoyed but really she’s nervous, this changes things. Big time. What happens if Carlos tells other people? Does this break some sort of ghost rule, to tell too many people?

Luke makes his way over toward Julie and falls back into the armchair while Reggie sits on the other side of Alex on the sofa. Carlos merely stands. 

“Everyone this is Carlos, Carlos this is everyone.” 

“How do I know you aren’t just talking to the air?” Carlos crosses his arms to try to look serious. But it is kind of difficult to look serious when questioning your older sister about her ghost band. 

“Reggie, do you want to do your thing?” Alex asks. Julie asks her voice rising in concern, “What thing?” Reggie runs to the back of the sofa and pulls the blanket off the back, making Julie fall forward. Carlos stares at the sudden motion of the blanket. His mouth falls open when Reggie takes the blanket, wrapping it around his shoulders as if he were a grandma wearing a shawl and bows dramatically. 

“Sir Reginald at your service.” Alex and Luke snicker but fall silent quickly when Julie ignores them.

“Who’s that!” Carlos asks Julie. Julie looks at Reggie, waiting for his response, “It is I, Reggie, a pleasure to make your formal acquaintance after having only heard your gnarly farts.” He bows again after completing his introduction. Julie can’t hide her smile this time, “I’m not saying all that.” Reggie winks. 

“What!” Carlos demands.

“It’s Reggie.” 

“Tell him he needs to stop using my laptop.”

“You can tell him yourself, they can hear you, you just can’t hear them. Also, no. They aren’t allowed to use mine. Boundaries.”

“They ruined my YouTube algorithm with rock videos and weird 90s trivia.” Luke clicks his tongue and points a finger gun at Carlos. Reggie takes this moment to take off the blanket as if it were a cape, and as dramatically as possible and tosses it over Luke and Alex’s heads, showing Carlos their shape. 

With the introductions over, it was time to rehearse. “We’re going to rehearse, you can stay and watch if you want.” Julie calls out over her shoulder to Carlos as she goes over and turns on her electric piano. Alex and Reggie started to set up as well, Carlos heard their dissonant warmups and stared around in wonder. Luke got out his guitar and started to tune it, but something seemed off about him. Julie made a mental note to talk to him later to see what was up.


	3. A Rehearsal with the Band Goes Wrong...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julie is just trying to have a normal rehearsal with the band, but Luke's acting grumpy and something unexpected happens.

The kitchen was empty except for Julie who sat on a stool eating her breakfast. It was hard to believe that two nights ago they had played at the Orpheum. Two nights ago, Caleb had almost stolen her band. And two nights ago she had told Carlos about the boys. A lot had changed in two days and Julie was scared but happy. All these changes weren’t bad but it was hard to shake the feeling that something was off. That she was missing something important. 

Carlos came down the stairs in his pajamas, “Where’s Dad?” 

“He’s out at a shoot this morning, he should get back before dinner though.”

“Oh okay, what are you doing today?” 

“Just rehearsal with the boys again,” Julie sipped at her orange juice and swiveled back and forth on the stool as Carlos walked into the kitchen and pulled down a bowl from the cabinet and grabbed milk from the fridge. “Don’t you get bored of it? Rehearsing all the time?”

“No, it’s energizing, and we want to be the best.” Carlos proceeded to drown his cereal in milk, a huge waste, but Julie knew it wasn’t worth the argument, he would merely say that it was the proper way to eat cereal. The last time she told him, he poured more milk just to spite her. 

As he had been doing for the past two days Carlos leaned in close to Julie and whispered, “Are they here?” 

“No, they don’t need to eat.”

“But you guys don’t hang out?”

“We do, but we are about to rehearse together, there is no need to make them watch me eat breakfast. I haven’t even showered yet!”

“Well, I want to invite them to game night tonight.”

“How are you going to explain that to Dad?” 

“Well....”

“No.” Julie said firmly. “I’m not telling Dad, you know what he will say.” Carlos looked at Julie, really looked at her. He saw the fear and the sadness mixed up. It had been a hard year on her, she had finally found music again. He was slowly getting his sister back and he didn’t want to jeopardize that.

“Fine, I just think a game night would be fun, we could totally beat them.” Julie gave him a small smile of thanks. Going back upstairs to shower, “We are rehearsing in 45 minutes if you want to watch.” 

Julie felt refreshed after her shower. Sitting on her bed in jeans and an old shirt of her Mom’s she scrolled through social media. The band were taking off online. Clips from their show at the Orpheum were posted on YouTube and the Edge of Great video had almost reached a million views and was still climbing. The Instagram and twitter pages had almost reached ten thousands followers, but what came next? They didn’t have another show booked yet, they didn’t even have an agent. They couldn’t book every gig like they did the Orpheum, anyway she wanted to do well on her own merit, not just tricks. She knew she was good, great even, but she didn’t want anyone to think she was cheating, there was already enough questions about the holograms. Before heading out she glanced at Carrie’s unread text message and clicked away before reading it. If Carrie wanted to talk, she could find her at school tomorrow. 

In the garage Carlos was walking around with his iPad and ghost hunter apps trying to see if he could spot them. “There is no way for you to see them when they aren’t playing.” Julie said catching him by surprise, “Also the salt doesn’t work.”

“I just wanted to double check. Where are they?” Carlos asks as he continues to look around, stepping over by Julie’s piano but not seeing any other equipment. 

Alex, Luke and Reggie are sitting on the couch. They had been enjoying watching Carlos search and Reggie was perched ready to throw a pillow at Carlos when Julie had walked in. Julie liked Reggie, he was sweet, sincere and often confused but in a way that made him endearing. Julie kept talking to Carlos and pretended that she hadn’t spotted them, waiting to see if Reggie would follow through. Reggie had taken to Carlos the most quickly, Alex was friendly with him but Julie couldn’t figure out why Luke was keeping his distance. It was nice to see the people she cared about interacting, even if it was a little one sided. She hadn’t found a chance to talk to Luke yet. Reggie threw the pillow and Carlos screamed while Alex lightly punched Reggie in the arm. Carlos looked around and purposefully went to sit down on the couch, looking hesitant. He sat right through Luke who looked grumpy about it. 

Julie walked over to her piano, “Are you done messing around and ready to rehearse? We need to get our next set ready.”

“We don’t even have another gig yet, maybe we should focus on finding somewhere to play first.” Luke countered. He was wearing his regular pair of jeans with the chain, his wallet and the lucky rabbit’s foot hanging from the clip. He wore a different RUSH t-shirt today with the sleeves cut off. Julie didn’t know why he had an aversion to sleeves, but it wasn’t something she would ever complain about. More than a few comments on the Youtube video had also appreciated it. “The music comes first, anyway our video almost has a million views on YouTube, we are going to get another gig.” Julie projected false confidence into her voice pushing back her fears. Could a gig put the boys back in danger if Caleb attended? She wondered to herself. She wanted the band to succeed just as much as they did and first she had to believe in them. 

“I’m planning to set up an email for agents or manager to contact us later today.”

“Email?” Reggie asked confused.

“I know this!” Alex shouted, “Electronic letters!”

“Where’d you learn that?” Reggie asked defensively.

“Willie told me about it,” Alex said quietly, sort of deflating. They hadn’t heard from Willie since their show. They hadn’t seen Caleb either, but they had just been hanging out in the garage, laying low and hoping Caleb thought they crossed over. The past few days Alex had been pacing up a storm with worry and hoping that Willie might pop by but there had been nothing yet. Instead, they had passed the time rehearsing and catching up on movies and music while Luke stress wrote new songs. He hadn’t shown them to Julie yet and claimed they weren’t ready. Alex felt bad and wanted to look for Willie, but if Caleb thought they had crossed over, spotting them could get Willie into even more trouble. 

Carlos sat silently watching his sister converse with no one, wondering if maybe he was wrong. He wanted to believe her, he had seen them perform and he couldn’t deny that the house had haunted moments, but his belief wavered when he couldn’t see them. 

“What should we start with?” Julie asked sitting down at her piano and running through a few arpeggios.

“Edge of Great, I want to see what happens if we open up the solos a little bit for each of us,” Luke responded taking charge of the rehearsal. This felt natural. These past couple of days had been hard, he hadn’t realized that he was ready to cross over until he didn’t. He was tired and energized at the same time. Music gave him his purpose and motivation but Caleb had now attached something else to it, fear. He had almost not made it to the Orpheum, he almost didn’t pull away from Caleb’s grasp and that scared him. Maybe he didn’t want it enough? But now it felt different, Caleb had tainted the one thing he loved more than anything. Maybe if they had crossed over they would have still been able to play, unstained by the fear that Caleb would find them or they would fail at their dream again. It was too much to think about and he didn’t want to worry Julie about it. She had just gotten them back and he didn’t want her to feel guilty. He didn’t want to get attached to Carlos and make it worse when they crossed over. 

As Julie warmed up and played a few more scales Luke tuned his guitar and closed his eyes playing a few riffs sinking into his guitar and the music. Even with the worries and the fear surrounding him, in this garage with his band and his friends he let it sink away for just a moment before opening his eyes and taking stock of the band. Everyone was warmed up and ready, eyes on him.

“One two three four!” And Julie started playing. 

Carlos couldn’t see them yet, as they weren’t performing but he could hear them. His eyes were wide as he looked around not able to see where the music was coming from. Once again the doubt that kept creeping in vanished, each time it took longer to come back. He didn’t know how Julie kept it a secret for so long, she must have thought she was out of her mind. 

Carlos knew his sister was talented, he had heard it many times from relatives and strangers alike. Anyone who heard her play always made a comment, and yet, every time he heard her sing it still took his breath away. There was nothing that could ever prepare him for it, and this rehearsal was no different. After the first lines, the band came in and Carlos couldn’t help but let out a gasp as the boys poofed into existence. Alex on the drums, in his joggers, a pastel blue tshirt and ripped jean jacket, Reggie in his white v neck and leather jacket and Luke in his ripped jeans, vans and RUSH t-shirt. 

They rehearsed, Edge of Great, Stand Tall and Bright. They extended solos in each seeing how it felt and also giving Carlos a chance to talk to them when he could see them. The whole point of rehearsal was not to finalize a song but to find cohesion as a group. Hearing each other play solos helped Julie get a feel for their playing and gave her new ideas for melodies for their next songs. It challenged them as musicians and kept it from getting boring, although Julie didn’t think she could ever get bored playing with them. Still, she could tell Luke was holding back in his solos. 

Julie was playing the chords to back up Reggie’s bass solo when out of the corner of her eye she saw the garage doors slide open. Thinking it was just Carlos heading out to grab a snack she looked back to her keyboard and kept playing. Reggie’s playing was calm and in control as he extended the melody and modulated a bit before coming back to the original key. It was soothing to listen to. As Reggie’s solo came to an end Julie looked up to see if Carlos had returned and was surprised to see her Dad sitting on the couch. 

Carlos’ face was blank, unsure what to do, but not wanting to mess up. Julie stopped playing but it was Alex’s solo and as it was common for the whole band to drop out during a drum break they were not alarmed. 

Looking over at Julie to see if she liked his solo Reggie was surprised to find her staring at the couch. There he saw Ray and Carlos sitting, Ray relaxing and smiling and Carlos stiff and unsure of what to do. Reggie being Reggie waved and went back to playing. One by one each of them noticed Ray watching their rehearsal, they kept playing but got quieter as Julie still wasn’t playing. She was just sitting at her electronic piano staring at her Dad. Finally, she snaped out of it and makes a decision. Or more like, the decision was already made. She vamps on the piano repeating the chords to the chorus. 

“Heeeey Dad,” she says over the music drawing out the words. “Are you ready to meet the band?” Her voice sounds unsteady as her fingers continue playing the chords. It’s now or never.


	4. An Awkward Introduction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julie decides it is time for her Dad to formally meet the band. It gets a bit awkward when he invites them for dinner and Julie has to do all the talking.

Ray stands up excited and looks to Carlos, “You’ve met the band?” He asks a little hurt, Carlos just nods worried that Julie will be mad at him. He keeps walking toward the boys, “I finished at work early and when I got home I heard you rehearsing and just wanted to pop in and see what you’ve been up to.” 

Julie’s still playing and isn’t sure how long the vamp will work before the magic figures out they aren’t really performing anymore. How will she explain this? Can she just tell him the truth? “Okay, well, you’ve popped in, are you sure you don’t want go inside and start making dinner?”

“It’s 3pm.”

“Oh...”

Reggie ever the golden retriever takes the lead, “Nice to meet you Ray, we’ve heard so much about you!” He says this while playing but stops to wave, he flickers as if the song might be over and quickly gets back to playing the vamp. Ray walks over to try to shake his hand, but pauses at Reggie flickering. Ray’s now standing in the middle of the band, directly in front of Alex who is playing softly on the drums, mostly cymbal and the bass drum with an occasional high hat. Alex nods at Ray, “Sup.” Ray nods back and doesn’t try to shake his hands, they already look busy enough keeping time. That just left Luke. Julie wasn’t sure what Luke was going to do, he had been grumpy towards Carlos and wasn’t sure what he would do with her Dad. Luke took a deep breath and stopped playing for a moment to lift his hand. He looked like he was focusing really hard and when Ray shook his hand, she realized he was focusing on making his hand touchable. Julie felt a small flare of jealousy, that was something they could only do with her, she had thought. Right as they broke away, Luke flickered out of sight. He didn’t get to introduce himself. Ray wheeled around startled and now totally confused. First Reggie’s flicker and now Luke disappearing he didn’t know what to make of it. Julie finally stopped playing, and Alex and Reggie poofed out of view. Julie could still see them. Reggie looked excited, Alex apprehensive and Luke unsure of himself. They knew why she had kept them a secret and were feeling protective even though it was too late to do anything about it. 

“Dad. I’m not really sure how to explain this.”

“I told you, don’t try to explain the holograms, I’m not going to understand it. It was just startling to see it up close. And I thought I felt something shaking his hand.” He was sitting next to Carlos on the couch now. To Carlos and Ray it appeared that Julie was standing alone beside her electronic keyboard but she could feel Reggie, Luke’s and Alex’s arms around her shoulders supporting her in the silent way they had learned how. 

“They aren’t holograms.” Julie said in a rush. Ray sat stunned, “Wha-what else could they be?” 

“Do you remember the French Dip, Dad?” Carlos cut in. Julie, Alex and Luke looked confused. Where was he going with this, what French Dip? Only Reggie looked like he understood what Carlos was referring to, that made Julie feel even more alarmed.

“Dad. They are ghosts.” Julie said, interrupting Carlos and saying it a little louder than she had intended. 

“Honey, I know this year has been hard, but there are no such thing as ghosts.” He looked at her with sympathy and pain in his eyes, it hurt him to see her still hurting so much she would hallucinate ghosts, but there was a little confusion too, the holograms really didn’t make sense. 

“You have to believe me, the holograms aren’t real, you saw them yourself right here, there was no projector.” Carlos looked around while Julie continued to plead. “They were part of a band back in the 90s they used to rehearse here, they can be seen when they play with me. We don’t know why but they appeared when I played their CD, Mom must have kept it all these years.” 

The garage was silent as Ray contemplated her explanation. He looked around his sympathy melting first into fear, then confusion and finally hope. “But how? Mom? Is she here too?”

Alex gave her shoulder a squeeze, a ghost hug being exactly what she needed at this moment. “They haven’t seen her and I can only see them.”

“Okay, okay. I believe you. So they were these orbs you saw in that photo?” He turned to Carlos at the last question and fell silent to look around the room again. This had been their studio for so long, his last link to his wife, and it was weird to wrap his head around of what it used to be before. It didn’t feel like letting go, but maybe this is what moving on is, adding on to it. Making it more than just what the old studio had been. Bringing new life into, even if the new members were technically dead. 

Ray took a long slow deep breathe, accepting this new reality and taking it in stride, “Well, do you want to invite the boys to dinner? Give them a tour of the house?”

“What do you say?” Julie turned to the boys with a smile, asking aloud even though she knew it looked weird to talk to empty space. 

“Oh yeah!” Reggie looked thrilled, he had grown fond of Ray and was excited for what this meant for their relationship. 

“They say yes,” Julie answered before either Alex or Luke could say anything. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Alex’s gentle smile and Luke just nod along. “They’ve already been in the house though, it wasn’t Carlos or me leaving the lights on in the living room.” 

Ray smiled hesitantly. He would admit it was strange to see his daughter talking to thin air, but they had also been the ones that had brought her smile back and music back into their lives. “I’m going to go get ready for dinner and will leave you to rehearse, but Julie, you remember your promise, schoolwork still comes first, even if your band is made of ghosts.”

“They prefer to be called phantoms.” Julie joked. 

Carlos and Ray walked back to the house leaving Julie alone to rehearse. 

“Let’s get back to it!” She said brushing off the questions they had about what just went down. Julie knew they meant well but she just wasn’t ready to confront the fact that her worlds had collided, and nothing bad had happened. Yet. 

After an exhausting but invigorating rehearsal they all headed over to the house for dinner. Julie held back as she watched Alex and Reggie walk straight through the front door. She wasn’t sure if she was ready for the chaos that this would bring. But she knew she was ready to confront Luke. She needed to, for the sake of the band and herself. She turned around knowing he would hang back. She stood on the steps surrounded by the ferns and feeling like she was in a whole new world from the garage or the house. It felt distant from warmth that came from the house and the silence from the garage. 

“Luke.” 

“Julie.” He countered, taking her hands in his. She marveled at the fact that they could touch now.

“What is going on, why are you so distant?” 

“What are you talking about? I’m just tired.” He countered defensive.

“Come on, you said ghosts don’t need sleep, how can you be tired.” Julie was starting to get frustrated. They were supposed to be a team yet Luke was acting like everything was normal when it wasn’t. 

“It’s just been a long few days, okay?” Luke answered, hoping it would be enough for her to back off. She got the hint, “You can tell me okay? But I won’t push you to talk,” pulling him in for a hug she continued, “I’m here, you are still here. It’s all okay now.” She didn’t know that, but needed it to be true, and she sensed he needed it to be true. Whatever okay meant for a ghost. It was only their second hug but it felt familiar and even though she was the one trying to comfort him, she was comforted by his firm presence. 

Walking into the house Julie took in the scene, the table set for six and spaghetti and homemade meatballs on the table. “You know they can’t eat right?” Julie called out to her Dad who was in the kitchen grabbing the basket of rolls. Alex and Reggie were already seated and Luke poofed into a seat right as Carlos tried to in the same one. Julie giggled and Ray and Carlos looked up startled while Luke removed himself from the seat and went to another empty one. “Carlos you just sat on Luke.” 

“Uh sorry,” Carlos said directing his apology at the seemingly empty chair Alex occupied. 

Dinner was awkward. Julie and Carlos ate while the boys sat at the table, making conversation with themselves and trying to respond to Ray and Carlos’s questions. But the conversation was stunted and it made Julie sad for what it could have been if they were alive. As Julie finished eating, being the slowest eater in the family, the conversation lulled. 

“Luke, Alex and Reggie, I just want to extend my heartfelt thanks for helping bring Julie back to music. As you know this has been a hard year for our family, but we are happy to welcome you into ours.” Julie blushed and through clenched teeth whispered, “Dad, you are embarrassing me.” He just reached to hold Julie’s hand on the table. 

Julie looked up to see their responses. Alex was leaning against Reggie in his seat, a small smile on his face, Reggie was blushing and trying not to tear up. Julie realized that she had never asked them about their family, but their lack of offering up information told her what she needed to know. Maybe they needed her just as much as she needed them. Luke stood up abruptly from his chair, pushing it back from the table with a loud noise causing Carlos and Ray to look. He gave Julie a stare with puffy eyes and poofed away.


	5. The New Normal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julie's day at school is hectic as Nick is acting weird and her classmates hound her due to her new success.

After getting ready for bed, Julie planned to write a poem for her dream box but instead found Luke sitting on the floor by her door, leaning against it his head against his knees. Luke’s eyes were red and his face puffy from crying. 

“I’m sorry I’ve been distant...” He started but trailed off not finishing the thought. He sniffed, “I had just prepared myself to cross over, for what that meant. And then we didn’t. And Julie. I’m so happy. I’m thrilled. We get a second chance at our dream. I love making music with you. But I’m also scared. I don’t know if I can be ready again. The more,” He took a deep shuttering breath, “the more invested I get the harder it will be to leave. What happens if we figure out our unfinished business? How will I cross over with so much more to lose?” He wipes his eyes before finally looking up to meet her eyes. 

Julie walks over to sit down on the floor across from him. “Do you remember what you said? In the garage?”

“Yeah”

“You said, ‘I don’t want to make music if it isn’t with you.’” Julie lifted her hand, almost to reach out to touch him but hesitated, her hand hovering in the empty space between them before letting it drop back to her lap. “I don’t want to make music without you either. When you told me about Caleb’s curse, I was so mad. Finally, I had music back, I had friends, I had a band. And it was about to be taken away from me. I wanted to give up again. But I didn’t. The pain of losing you guys, losing you. It hurt, but not having it. Never losing it, that would have hurt more.” 

Luke held her gaze while wiping his nose with the back of his hand, “I’m so scared Julie. He’s going to find us again.” Julie reached out, her hand hovering in the air only for a moment before touching his hand, the one not covered in snot. “We will figure it out. Together. Okay?”

“Okay.” They stayed there for a moment listening to the sounds of Carlos and Ray in the house around them. Finally, Julie let out a sigh, “It’s late and I have school in the morning.”

“Yeah yeah sure.” Luke agreed rushing to stand up.

“And Luke?” He turned around from walking towards the door, “Next time, let’s have this conversation somewhere else okay? Boundaries?” Julie had a small smile on her face and her eyes were shining with unshed tears.

“Okay,” Luke chuckled, glad to get back to normal. 

“Good night, Julie.”

“Good night.” And with that she was alone on the floor wiping away her own tears that had started to fall when he poofed away. 

Julie went back to her dream box. She stayed up late to add a new addition.

Walking into home room the next morning, Julie was swarmed by her classmates wanting selfies or requesting her to follow them on Instagram. She smiled for the selfies telling them the hashtags Flynn had told to use, #tellyourfriends #JulieandthePhantoms they all nodded and quickly posted their photos. Her phone was blowing up with tags and follow requests. She hadn’t checked it since seeing they were almost to 10K followers. It was just too overwhelming. 

School passed in a daze and she was glad that Nick was only in PE, soon even the dance collaboration with the lacrosse team would be over and she wouldn’t have to see him in any class. It was nice that he had brought her flowers, but he was acting strange. In dance class, they continued to learn a new dance, but every time they touched she felt a zing, as if he had walked on carpet with socks and then shocked her. They were on the hard gym floor, she didn’t know where he was getting the static electricity from. 

“This new dance is electrifying,” Julie joked as she spun around and returned to his arms, trying to diffuse the awkwardness that grew as class continued on. Nick was being unusually quiet and didn’t respond. Normally he would at least laugh at her weird jokes, but today it was only silence. Maybe he was still a bit hurt from her rejection. 

Class was ending and he had still not said a word to her, “You can request a new partner if you want, it’s not too late.” She said as she grabbed her bag, ready to head to her next period, which was thankfully lunch. “No, no, I want to be your partner,” he reassured her. Julie wasn’t convinced but didn’t say anything else. 

“Hey, I’ve been looking for you! You weren’t answering my texts. Also, weird but Carrie was asking where you are. I said I don’t know, and it wasn’t a lie! You’ve got to stop sneaking off without telling me, what happens if you get cursed too and I’m not there to stop it?” Flynn said in a rush. Sliding onto the piano bench beside Julie she bumped her with her shoulder to snap her back to the moment. 

“Sorry, I’ve just been stressed. Nick’s acting weird, Luke’s being moody. I just wish things could return to normal.”

“Normal as in, you are friends with three dead guys? Or normal as in the most popular guy in school never admits he likes you?” Flynn says scoffing, as if anything about their lives is normal anymore. Julie’s hands are sitting on the piano as if she’s about to play but she takes her hands off when someone else walks into the music room behind them, a fellow musician looking for a moment of peace during the chaos of high school.

Julie looks up and gives Flynn a smile, she always says exactly what she needs to hear. “We are almost to ten thousand followers on Instagram.”

“Actually, you passed it this morning.”

“I’ve taken so many selfies today. So! Many! Why didn’t they want to be friends with me before I was in a band!”

“You know why Julie, but it doesn’t matter, they are just part of the steps to greatness. You are right on the edge.” Flynn says with a glint in her eye and a smile curling up her face. Julie chuckles. “I’m just scared right now, what comes next? The guys lifted the curse but didn’t cross over, what happens if Caleb tries again, if we post about gigs online can he find us there?”

“Slow down. One thing at a time. First of all, you can touch them now. Something’s changed, probably for the better, so no they didn’t cross but now they are more here. I have no idea what that means, but it does mean you can finally touch your ghost bae.”

“Flynn!” Julie says outraged.

“Just saying. Anyway, you can’t wait for what comes next, you have to take the initiative. You can’t be scared of Caleb, otherwise the boys might as well be playing for him. Don’t let him control you.” 

“You know you’re right.” Julie concedes reluctantly.

“I always am,” Flynn interjected as Julie continued, “I was telling Luke the same thing, but I think I needed to hear that as well.” Julie reached over to squeeze Flynn’s hand. 

“That’s what I’m here for. On that note, your DM’s are out of control, I like being your social media manager and everything, but I think you kind of need an agent soon.” Flynn’s voice was excited and nervous, this band was going further than either of them could have imagined. 

“Okay that’s the next step them, book another gig, get an agent.”

“I think I can help with the next gig part.” Flynn said mischievously as the bell rang. “I’ll tell you after class!” 

At home after the rush of people at school, Julie finally checks her phone, her personal account gained a thousand new followers and Flynn was right, the band’s page passed ten thousand. Sitting on the couch she slumped over and spent the next fifteen minutes liking all the selfies she had been tagged in. After all, it was proper Instagram etiquette. Putting her feet on the coffee table something wooden clattered to the floor. When she went to pick it up and instantly dropped it again.

“CARLOS,” he came running at the sound of his name. He was trying to look nonchalant but failed, “Yes?” 

“Why in the world is there a Ouija board on the table?”

“I wanted to talk to the guys without you around.”

“No! No.” Julie stood up and started pacing, “Why in the world would you think this is a good idea? We don’t need more curses or more ghosts. Go throw it away. Better yet, just burn it.”

“Curses? What are you talking about?”

Julie paused realizing her mistake. She had told them how they were ghosts but she didn’t tell them about the curse or Caleb. “Nothing, this is for summoning demons, not for talking to friendly ghosts. It is exactly how to get a curse.” Carlos gave up pretty easily. Much faster than Julie had expected, she was ready for him to argue but he merely picked it up and walked off with it. She wanted to believe he would throw it away but knew better than to think that. They were probably going to have this argument again. 

As Julie finished her homework, she heard the sounds of electric guitar and beckoning her into the garage, they had some new songs to learn and old ones to perfect. This was a normal she could get used to.


	6. Family Game Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a weekend of songwriting with Luke, Julie must confront the awkwardness that has descended on her family.

“Sooo, you have that songwriting glow about you, how was your weekend?” Flynn gushes as she meets Julie at her locker. Julie blushes but tries to hide it and buries her head in her locker pretending to search for a textbook. “It was good you know, we rehearsed a bunch and Luke and I wrote a bunch together. I’ve got some great songs to show you later.” 

“Can I watch them rehearse?” Flynn asks sweetly, never wanting to miss the opportunity to see cute ghosts. Julie nods into her locker and then nervously turns around, “How was your weekend?” she asked. “The usual. You know?” The bell rings and they walk down the hallway together to their first classes of the day, Julie starts to think ahead to her dance class. Nick was texting her all weekend, he has been acting weirder and weirder. She didn’t take him to be the type of guy who wouldn’t take no for an answer, but she was glad that this was the last week the lacrosse team would be in their dance class. 

After school the house is quiet except for Ray in the kitchen grabbing a snack. “Hey!” Julie calls out and walks around the corner to find Reggie hovering over his shoulder. “What are you doing here?” Ray looks up confused, “Getting food from my own kitchen?” 

“Sorry not you. Ummm, Reggie’s here too.” 

“Oh cool? Where?” He spins around with the knife he was using to cut up the pear and slashes through Reggie. If he weren’t already ghost, that definitely would have been a step in the right direction. 

“That hurt!” Reggie calls out looked affronted. 

“You kind of just stabbed him with you knife.” Julie says snickering. This is weird, she thought to herself. Just weird. It was hard to imagine getting used to this, but then again, she had already accepted her ghost band. 

“Reggie, I’m so sorry.” He says while spinning around, he doesn’t know where to look but he’s put his knife down. “I tried to invite them to come hang out, you know? I went to the garage but I wasn’t sure if they were there.”

“Why?” Julie asks confused, they were her friends not his. Reggie responded at the same time as Ray, “We are friends now, he knows my name.” He looked delighted at this fact. She missed what her Dad said but realized something else at the same time. Maybe they needed a family too. Preparing herself to accept the weird awkwardness Julie took a deep breath, “Why don’t we have a game night? I can invite the guys and then you would be able to get to know them better.” Ray thought about it, “It’s Monday, don’t you have homework? Carlos has soccer practice.”

“I’ll do it while he’s at practice. It’s not that much.”

“Just remember school comes first.” 

Reggie is standing with his arm around Ray now and gives Julie a thumbs up before proofing out to wherever the rest of the guys are. “Tell them to come back around at 8.” 

“Dad, he’s already gone.” Julie sighs. 

Sitting on the couch doing her homework, the boys poof down beside her, knocking her notebook from her lap. Luke and Alex sit beside her while Reggie sits in the armchair looking smug. “So I heard we got invited to family game night?” Luke starts with, picking up her notebook from the floor. “Yeah, I just have to get my homework done first.” She glares, “And can’t you walk through the door like normal people? You keep startling me.” 

“We’re ghosts, why use doors when you can just appear?” Reggie shoots back, leaning back and crossing his arms behind his head to trying to look casually cool. “You sure you don’t want to rehearse with us?” Luke asks, right back to business. “These math problems won’t do themselves,” Julie counters. “Alex can do it for you,” Luke offers. 

“Nope, I’m dead. That’s like the ultimate excuse for not having to do homework.”   
“Fine, just come out and run one song with us.” Luke pleads, trying again. 

“You’ve all heard my dad, school comes first or he pulls the plug. Although I guess he now realizes that won’t really stop the band anymore.” Turning to Alex, “Are you any good at math?” Alex blushes and shrugs, “I was decent.” 

“He’s being modest, he got straight A’s in math.” Alex was now the same color as his pale pink sweatshirt and glaring at Luke, “I just like that there’s a clear answer every time. It’s consistent.” 

“Well, the answers for these math problems are not clear and if I don’t get them done in time, we won’t be able to have a game night. So, either be quiet or go somewhere else.” They chose be quiet and Luke got up to wander around the living room and Reggie joined him. Alex sat beside her and stared into space, lost in thought. It was hard to concentrate with Reggie and Luke wandering around, as her gaze returned to her notebook, she thought about the way they had knocked it off her lap when they poofed onto the couch. They were becoming more real, at least in regard to her, she could feel Alex’s shoulder slightly touching hers from where he sat on the couch. What did it all mean? 

Carlos’ practice ran late but he ran in the door energized, “GAME NIGHT, GAME NIGHT, GAME NIGHT!” He chanted, ready to beat some ghosts in the train game. Julie started to clear her notebooks from the table and Alex, Luke and Reggie paused the YouTube video they were watching to look up. “What’s the game?” Luke asked. 

“You’ll see.” Julie smiled mischievously. They hadn’t had a game night in a long time, it used to be one of their favorite things to do with Mom, but it was hard to play without her. “Come on Carlos, you have to find the right domino to start.” They found their seats at the table and Ray looked up startled when the chairs scraped back. Carlos didn’t look up from his search for the center domino. “I thought we were playing monopoly or something,” Luke said glancing at the table and seeing the unfamiliar game. “Umm no monopoly can destroy families, we are just trying to have fun.” Luke rolled his eyes. “What exactly is this game?” Alex asked hesitantly. Ray was just watching Julie talk to think air. “Do they know how to play?” 

“No.” Reggie answered. Julie turned to look at her Dad and he sees her smile slowly grow as he begins to explain the game. She can be very competitive. “The goal is to get rid of all of your pieces, to do that you need to put them down. To put them down you need to have a matching domino with the one in the center. You can only put down on your train or the community train. A community train is when someone has an extra matching one and so they put it out and anyone can put down on it at anytime. If you can’t play, your train goes up and others can play on it.”   
“And wreck your carefully loud plans! Hahaha,” Carlos interrupts. 

“Okay everyone pull eleven and make sure no one else can see.” Julie interrupts before Carlos gets out of hand. Alex pulls his dominos and looks around at the closeness and the fun even with all the confusing new rules. He feels full in a way he hasn’t felt in a long time. At least not since that sound check at the Orpheum the night they died. At home was never like this before he died. “Okay, I think I got it.” Alex says while nodding to himself. Looking over, he sees Reggie is all set up with eleven dominos just sort of scattered around, Luke is still organizing his. “No peaking,” Reggie teases Alex.

Carlos and Ray are sitting at the table trying not to stare at the moving dominos, in a quiet voice Ray mutters, “It’s just so weird.” 

“Who goes first?” Luke asks curiously, Julie can see he is invested. Over the weekend they got back to writing together, but she worried the whole time he would sink back into his funk from before. Maybe he took her words to heart. “I guess its a good thing we aren’t playing Uno...but uh Luke wants to know who goes first again?” 

“Whoever has the highest double,” Carlos answers with his tone condescending. “Geese, okay, I have a ten.” Each of the boys flip over their highest double without saying anything, “Reggie it is,” Ray points to where he thinks he is sitting, but actually points at Alex. He sees Julie roll her eyes but doesn’t comment, its fun to be playing games together again. 

They start with Reggie starting his own train. It is slow at first but quickly the boys figure it out, not fast enough to defeat Carlos, but they have fun. Or a version of fun, from Luke’s slouched over form and more dominos than he started with, she can tell he is feeling a little defeated. Alex is smiling and had come in a close third to her, and Reggie, he was just having fun. As they pack up the game, only doing one round, Julie thinks to herself how much fun she had. She might not have won, but she didn’t think about the curse or the next gig while they were playing. It was simple and fun. She hadn’t realized how much she had missed this feeling until all the dominos were packed up and Ray sent Carlos upstairs to get ready for bed and the table was quiet again. 

Luke looked a little less defeated. Standing up from the table he shrugged on his hoodie onto his shoulder from where it slipped off. “I guess we better be going. Thanks for inviting us,” he turned and waved. “The boys are saying bye, and thanks for the invite.” Ray waved back and aimed in the right direction. Reggie came up to give him a high five and Luke and Alex wandered to the door. “We’ll have to do it again!” 

“Oh yeah,” Reggie responded slapping Ray’s outstretched hand that had been waving moments before. “Reggie agreed.” Julie answered for him. Ray pulled back his palm and shook it as if he had been shocked by something. He turned to Julie with an eyebrow raised, she just smiled back. “Good night Dad.” 

“Good night honey, I love you.” 

In bed, Julie is all tucked in and ready to go to sleep when Flynn calls, “What do you want?” It’s late, I’m trying to sleep.”

“Trying to get your beauty sleep?”

“You know I don’t need that to be beautiful,” Julie jokes, but Flynn gets serious. “You don’t, so that’s why we are going to find your next gig right now.”

Julie chuckles, Flynn is always saying things like that, and she wants to believe her, but sometimes it just doesn’t feel that way. She brushes it off and gets back to the conversation, “I don’t know if we are ready,” Julie says unsure of herself. 

“You were ready for the Orpheum, weren’t you?”

“That was different.”

“How?” 

“I don’t know, what happens if someone recognizes them? Is there anyone even trying to book us? We don’t have an agent yet, just one show.”

“Have you checked the Instagram account yet?” 

“No….” But Julie is interrupted by a knock on the door, “Hold that thought,” and she puts the phone down. “WHAT?” Ray pokes his head in looking affronted, “umm I didn’t want to interrupt but I just forgot to say, I have an early morning shoot tomorrow so I won’t see you in the morning.” He looks around, “Were you talking to someone?”

“Sorry, uh yeah, I just thought you were the boys, say hi Flynn.”

“Hiiii” Flynn calls out, enjoying Julie getting in trouble. “Do the boys come in your room a lot?”

“Nope, no, not at all,” Julie stammers while turning red, “Okay just once or twice, but I always send them away.” 

“Okay good, because otherwise I need to have a talk with them.” Julie’s eyes go wide at the scene that pops into her head of what that conversation would go like. “Okay, well good night then.” Ray looks around one more time before closing the door. Julie doesn’t talk until she hears his footsteps down the hall and the click of his own bedroom door. 

“Oh my god, that was hilarious. You are a terrible lair.” Flynn laughs on the phone. 

“Ugh I would rather talk about our nonexistent gigs.” 

“That’s what I am telling you, they aren’t nonexistent. Your DM’s are blowing up with offers right now, we just have to pick one to say yes to.” 

“But what if someone recognizes them, what if Caleb sees them? I don’t know if he thinks they crossed over or something.”

“It’ll be fine, as long as he doesn’t touch them, he can’t curse them, right? Didn’t you say they got stronger now, you can touch them? If someone recognizes them, there is no way to prove their ghosts, the most they could do is just ask questions.”

“Yeah, I know, I’m just worried, Luke’s been acting weird, and I just don’t know.” 

“Here’s what we are going to do, I will pick a gig at a smaller venue so it would be easier to spot Caleb and then you guys can still play. I will text you some location and time options. You know Luke, playing a show is probably exactly what he needs right now.”

“Okay, I will ask my Dad.” Julie sighs. “I’m going to bed now, I’m tired and I have a calculus test tomorrow.” 

“Boo hoo, superstar Julie has a test.” Flynn teases and Julie laughs in response. 

“Thanks Flynn,” Julie says while settling into bed. “Good night Julie.”


	7. Dress Rehearsal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The band has gig and at the dress rehearsal Julie most confront their past in order to move forward with their future plans.

“Thanks Dad, you can pick me up at 10,” Julie calls out while hopping out of the car. “I can stay and watch if you want,” he offers as he has done countless times since she booked the gig, but she turns him down every time, “I’m good!” The backstage door swings shut behind her cutting off his reply. 

Inside Julie is momentarily stunned by the dim lighting and the quiet hush of the place as everyone moves around getting ready in their own worlds. “Ms. Molina! Hi, I’m Simone, the stage manager here, we talked on the phone earlier this week. Let me show you to your dressing room, we’re almost ready on stage for you to start your rehearsal.” From the stage she hears the thud and scrape of heavy speakers and other equipment being moved around. Julie nods a little overwhelmed. “Are you sure the hologram machine doesn’t need to be plugged into the speakers?” Simone asks as she leads Julie down a maze of hallways until they reached a door with her name taped on it, “Uh yeah, all it needs is a power source. It does this weird Bluetooth thing with the mic, you know? I don’t really understand it, but they gave me a weird Swedish passcode and its worked in every other venue I’ve played at so far.” Julie turns around and gives a smile, “Weird right?” Simone nods slowly, a little confused but mostly satisfied with Julie’s answer. 

“Go ahead and get comfortable, we’ll send someone when the stage is ready for you.” 

Julie sits in the room, putting down her outfit for tomorrow night. Tomorrow Flynn would come to help her get ready, but right now, it felt nice to be alone. These past couple of weeks had been so full, with her family and friends but sitting here, getting ready to rehearse in the space for their next big gig. A gig she booked herself, without any hijinks, it felt special. It was special. The silence right now wasn’t lonely, it was as full as her life. It was full of potential and excitement and-boys. Julie turns around as they poofed into the dressing room. 

“How does it even work when you’ve never been here before?” Julie fell back into the armchair as the boys started to inspect the room, “What happens if you land in a wall?”

“We did.” Alex answers looking a bit embarrassed, “you just never see that part.” Julie feels her face curving into a smile, of course they did. “I could have been changing, ever heard of knocking?” 

Luke’s face turns bright red while Reggie runs his hand through his hear and looks over his shoulder, anywhere but Julie’s face. Alex is the least ruffled and responds for them, “Oh yeah, got it. We’ll knock next time.” 

“Ready for rehearsal guys? Our second big gig! They’ll come and get us when they are ready.”

“We know, we checked out the stage first, they are still setting up.” Luke reassures Julie. 

Julie’s in her armchair when a knock on the door jolts her upright and she gives a knowing look to the boys. “We’re ready for you!” A male voice calls through the door, Julie doesn’t recognize it, but Simone had said someone else would come get her. “See you downstairs,” Julie calls to the boys as she opens the door. “Ah great! Okay, let’s go.” As Julie follows, he looks behind her, expecting Luke, Alex and Reggie to follow, “Where’s the rest of the band?” He asks nervously, checking over his shoulder, “Simone really doesn’t like being behind schedule.” He chuckled nervously as if warning what would happen if they were late. Simone was growing on Julie, she liked someone who ran a tight ship. “They are holograms, they’ll be there.” She says in a response, a slight glint in eyes as she knows they will be there, this time there isn’t anything to stop them from poofing in. 

The stagehand led her through lots of dark corridors and hidden stairwells, this place felt like a maze as each owner added new parts and it became a mash of old and new, modern and original. Finally, they made it to the stage. Julie took in a sharp breath excited and nervous, it was empty except for her piano and it stood there ready. She could feel the expectation in the air even without the audience. On the wing across from her she saw the boys ready to poof in once she started playing. Releasing her breath Julie smiled, this was going to be fun. 

It was a spectacular rehearsal. Sweaty but happy Julie leaves the stage to find a group of stagehands pretending to be busy but just watching from the wings. Walking by she hears them try to figure out the hologram technology. The lighting guy comes over to check if everything looked okay, “Yup, its great, I love the purple and pink for this show.” 

He hesitates as if wanting to ask something else but settles on something else, “Okay great, we will check it one more time before tomorrow.” He walks off to join the stagehands who are still muttering about how the hologram sound links into the stage’s sound system. Julie feels Luke and Reggie’s arms around her shoulders as they steer her off to the side, “Come on, let’s go explore.”

“The stagehand is supposed to take me back to my dressing room.”

“You don’t want to explore a little? Alex recognized this place, we played here as Sunset Curve, they must have changed names in the past 25 years.” Luke says leading Julie away from the wing and towards another staircase hidden behind a curtain. “If I get lost down here, it’s your fault.” Is all Julie says, allowing herself to be led over. Luke opens the door and they all follow into a dimly lit hallway. Looking over her shoulder to check that no one notices, she sees everyone still clustered deep in discussion not noticing her escape.

The door swings shut with a satisfying thud and Julie gets a look at the walls, they are filled with signatures. As they walk Reggie talks, “So this used to be a big venue back in the day,” he says while walking backwards. “Everyone who performed here would sign the wall.” Julie slows down walking to really look at the wall and starts to see performers she recognized. A lot of people played here before they went and got famous. “You guys played here?” Julie asks, tracing the name of an unfamiliar band with her finger. “Yeah, we want to find our signatures.” Luke says while looking around at all the names on the walls. “It’s been a while so we aren’t exactly sure which hallway it is anymore.” 

“They’ve renovated a lot, this used to lead to the dressing rooms,” Alex adds on. “Although, I think it’s this way.” He says, turning to the right in a hallway that branches off into another hallway covered in signatures. Julie thinks this would lead back to the stage, but she couldn’t tell if the first hallway had curved slightly. She didn’t want to get lost down here, but she trusted Alex. Reggie and Luke, not so much. Their sense of direction had more to do with their gut than anything else. Although she knew that neither would admit that aloud. 

Two more right turns and Julie was officially lost, but Alex was picking up steam. Julie hoped they were getting close when Alex turns another corner and goes out of sight, “Found it!” He called out. They all picked up the pace, Julie walking over to see their signature on the wall. She recognized Luke’s terrible handwriting next to Reggie’s dramatic flourish and Alex’s more practical but still large signature. It was next to Bobby’s whose signature was small and neat. Another thing that had changed when Bobby transformed into Trevor. The four signatures were surrounded by a circle with a line coming out each side with wavy lines coming out of the top, a setting sun. “You guys really stay on brand don’t you,” Julie said to herself. Luke, Reggie and Alex got quiet, thinking back to a lifetime ago. Finally, Luke spoke, “Julie you should sign your name there too.” 

“I’m not in Sunset Curve, we should sign the wall as a new band.” She turned around and still saw some of the pain on their faces, confronted with everything they had lost in that signature. “I have an idea though, anyone have a sharpie?” Forgetting the fact that they aren’t real for a moment, they instinctively check their pockets and come up empty handed. “That’s okay, we’ll just sign it tomorrow before the show. I should find my dad anyway, you know how he is about school nights.” Each of them nod along in sympathy having seen firsthand the consequences. Taking a breath before turning from their signatures, immortalized in time, she turns to Alex, “So which way back?” he spins around, running his hands through his hair, “Uhh, that way.” He says confidently but his face says otherwise. 

“You sure you know where you are going?” she asks but still follows him. “Yeah,” he tries to say it as a statement, but it comes out as more of a question. They follow him for five minutes until he turns around lifting his arms in defeat, “Okay I’m lost.” Julie sighs and leans against the wall, “Really guys?” 

“Look, sorry, we just wanted you to share a little bit of our past with you. We didn’t expect for them to have changed everything so much.” Luke said with his hands outstretched appealing to Julie. 

“I know, it was cool, but I also need to get back to my dressing room and find my dad. He’s probably worried by now.” 

“There’s got to be a map somewhere,” Reggie says, for once the logical one in the situation. “We’ll go find a map and come back to get you,” Luke agrees, rushing to grab Alex and Reggie’s shoulders so they can poof away together. “Okay, does one of you-” They poof away before she can finish, “-stay with me?” She finishes talking to herself, “I guess not, that would make too much sense.” 

Julie stays still for another five minutes wondering how long it takes to find a map. Aren’t ghosts supposed to just know things? Julie gets up from the floor and traces her steps back to their signature. That’s when she hears footsteps coming from around the corner. They must have found someone to find her, how they talked to them, she didn’t know.

The steps were getting closer and they sounded familiar with a crisp clip of heels, none of the stagehand’s shoes were this loud. As the mysterious figure turned the corner Julie ducked into a hallway, her mind jumping to Caleb, it made no other sense of who it could be. 

Hiding in a dark hallway Julie has to stifle the gasp that tries to escape from her mouth when she sees none other than Trevor Wilson walk down the hallway. He is wearing distressed skinny jeans a white thermal shirt layered with a vest and a blue scarf hanging limply from his neck. What is he doing here? Julie thinks to herself, the boys definitely did not send him. For a second she almost wishes it was Caleb in the hallway, but then regrets it, Trevor Wilson has no power. Julie thought she was well hidden but when he starts talking, she knows he is talking to her. 

“I miss them every day,” he says, and Julie realizes that he is standing directly in front of the old Sunset Curve signature. The hallway fills with silence as Julie is confronted with a lot of different scenarios. This whole time she’s been worried about Caleb finding them but Trevor, Bobby, figured it out. Was he going to expose her? What was he going to do? Coming out from the hallway Julie decides to confront him., there is no point in denying it. “You say you miss them, but all you did was erased them.” She tries to sound angry, but she can’t keep the hurt out of her voice. “You stole Luke’s songs. You stole their legacy.” 

“You stole my band!” He shouts at her turning around. Julie takes a step back shocked. “I, I stole your band? They aren’t yours, they aren’t anyone’s and you are the one that doomed them to obscurity. You have no right to talk to me that way after everything you’ve done.” Julie’s voice gets quiet and low with anger. Turning around Julie goes to stalk off and find a different way back to her dressing room when she feels his hand land heavy on her shoulder. “don’t. touch. me.” She grits out. The hand releases and she keeps walking but hears the click of his shoes following after her. 

Hoping she wasn’t getting more lost, Julie made a turn and still heard his shoes behind her. “I bought this place, they were going to tear it down, build a parking structure but I didn’t want to lose this memory. Of performing here.” Julie stops walking and turns around again to speak, “I know about loss, I know about preserving a memory and honoring a loss. That’s not what you are doing.” There is poison in Julie’s voice and Trevor can feel it. The force of her words makes him step back. “I’m sorry about your Mom.” 

“You don’t get to say that, after everything you and your daughter have done.” Julie whirls back around and is relieved to see a doorway with a glowing red exit sign ahead. Slamming it open she is back to the backstage area and is relieved to see the boys somehow herding her dad towards the door. She faintly hears the door slam behind her, but she doesn’t really care anymore as she walks up to her Dad, “You look a little frantic, did the rehearsal go okay?” he asks concerned. “Yeah, I just got lost trying to find my dressing room again.” Before she can say more, she hears the door open again and sees Luke, Reggie and Alex’s faces shift from excitement to confusion to anger. Before she can say anything, she feels his heavy hand on her shoulder again. She tenses up and before she can speak the boys are yelling. “Get your hand off her!” Luke yells, Reggie’s already launching himself at Trevor and shoving him, but his hand goes right through him, Julie can feel him shudder from the ghostly sensation and pulls away. Now standing next to Alex she tries to listen over their shouts to what Trevor is telling her Dad. 

“I- I’m going to grab my stuff from the dressing room.” Julie stutters trying to get away from the conversation as fast as possible. The boys follow her out still angry and flipping him off over their shoulder. She hears a snippet of the conversation and hears just a couple of words, “agent” and “representation.” Taking a deep breath, she keeps walking wanting to put as much distance between him and her. He thinks he is honoring their memory? Reaching her dressing room, she turns to the guys, “Give me one second then we can go.” Without waiting for a response she goes inside her room. 

Outside the door she finds them huddled up, clearing her throat they finally break up. “Julie, we are sorry for how we acted back there, it was uncool.” Luke says formally.

“No, it’s okay, I get it now. He’s such a liar and a scumbag.” Luke looks confused, she was the one that had told them to move forward, but the anger in her voice shows that she has not moved on. “What’d he say?” Alex asks able to read her face and could see this was about more than just Trevor.

“He said he was honoring your legacy, he doesn’t think he stole from you.” Julie says, her shoulders slumped and her face exhausted. 

“Oh,” Reggie says the only one to say anything. 

“I told him he’s wrong and he doesn’t understand anything about legacy or memory.” 

“You are right Julie, he doesn’t understand, but you do. You aren’t erasing anyone.” Luke says putting his arm around her shoulder. Even though he’s a ghost, his arm feels more reassuring than Trevor’s hand on her shoulder. “Let’s just go, we’ve got a show to rock tomorrow and I need some sleep.” Julie says sighing, leaving Luke’s arm on her shoulder.


	8. Standing Tall in the face of nerves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the day of their next big gig and Julie's nervous. There's a lot to do before the show and a lot more pressure than last time. After surviving school and her final dance with Nick, Julie feels ready, until an unexpected guest in her dressing room throws her off again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warning: Brief mention of vomit at the very end

Waking up and checking her phone Julie sees that her alarm will not go off for another two hours, she tries to go back to sleep but after tossing and turning finally relents to the fact that she won’t be getting any more sleep and turns to her phone. Browsing Instagram her nerves are not calmed by the amount of traction their Instagram post is getting about the concert. Flynn has definitely mastered social media and Julie can’t tell if she loves or hates her for it. 

With scrolling not calming her nerves, Julie closes Instagram and checks her texts. Doubting that Flynn is awake, she scrolls first to Nick’s unanswered texts but clicks away before responding, glad that today’s performance in dance will be the last one with him. The next one down is Carrie’s and with nothing but nerves she finally clicks on it. It’s a simple message: We need to talk. Nothing else, no explanation, maybe she knows about the ghosts too? Does she want to talk about Nick? Clicking away Julie puts it out of her mind, having more important things to worry about. As she starts to hear the rest of the house wake up, she finally puts the phone down to go get ready for school. 

At breakfast, everyone is chipper and Julie is suspicious. Carlos is never this awake, this is weird. Even though Julie wants to eat, the fear of throwing it back up is too strong, only eating a few bites before getting up to clear her dish, “Honey, you’ve got to eat, you’ve got a big show tonight!” Ray says trying to be supportive. “You think I don’t know?” Julie asks exasperated, it was better when they got the gig last minute, then she didn’t have to wait all day. Walking up stairs to finish getting ready, she wonders how she is going to make it through the day. 

School is worse, its buzzing with excitement for the show, teachers, other students and even the principle come up to say how excited they all are to watch them perform tonight. Even before first period she is swamped, by the time Flynn gets to her through the crowd, the bell for first period is ringing. Giving just a quick wave, Flynn dashes off to first period and Julie is finally left alone in the hallway. “This is going to be a long day,” she says to herself, and jumps when she gets a response, “I used to run laps around the track to get rid of the morning pre-show jitters.” Luke says leaning on a locker, “What are you doing here!” Julie demands. She quickly looks around, but the halls are empty, and she is about to be late. 

“I just wanted to check in, we could have a last minute rehearsal if you want?” The bell rings and Luke looks around, “High school, not a lot has changed.” He sighs.

“I can’t skip class, I’ve got a performance in my dance class I can’t miss.” Julie answers, wishing she could ditch class. Maybe dancing could be like running laps she wonders.

“Let me walk you to your class?” Luke asks as Julie opens her locker to get her textbooks, she is already late but she doesn’t want to be unprepared as well. “Sure.” She says with a small smile on her face, her nervousness changing to a different type. 

Walking to class with Luke is weird, he might have still been in high school when he died, but it felt weird to be in a high school with him as a ghost. In the empty halls, walking together felt intimate. It was a new side of him, and Julie liked it. He had always been the type of guy that belongs on stage, but seeing him in the hallways, he really could belong anywhere. He was more than just a performer and a musician. He didn’t have to be there, who would return to high school willingly? But Luke came to check on her, and it suddenly felt like the butterflies in her stomach were about more than the concert tonight. 

“Well, here we are.” Julie stopped just short of the window in the door, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Luke leaned against the door frame, “I’ll be around if you need anything.” 

“Thanks.” Julie said pausing to look at him before walking into class and entering a world that Luke no longer belonged to. She didn’t hear a word that was said all period.

The day passed in a blur and before she knew it, it was time for her dance performance. Changing into a red dress this time, Julie finds Flynn in the locker room. “You ready?” 

“I can’t wait for this to be over,” Julie grumbles. “What don’t want to dance with Nickypoo anymore?” Flynn teases, getting excited for her dance with her partner. “You know I’m over that, he’s been acting so weird lately.” They walk out to the gym and find the boys already ready, today Nick is dressed in black dress pants, a black dress shirt and a red tie, the rest of the class is in assorted, red, yellow and oranges. This dance is about the balance of fire and its mesmerizing dance. 

Dancing with Nick is anything but balanced, as they move together and apart, each reunion of their hands is a spark. Something is really off today, and Julie doesn’t think it’s her. On the final spin, as Julie returns to Nick’s arms, it is a jolt instead of a spark, this isn’t just the dance, Julie’s wrist burns. Their dance was not fire so she doesn’t know where the burning is from. Did she scrape against the floor too hard? Get caught on something on Nick’s shirt? The song finishes and the dance ends while Julie stands and stares at her burning wrist. It looks normal but tears start to form in the corner of her eyes. Nick grabs both of her hands and suddenly the burning is gone. Looking up, Nick is staring intently at her, his eyes flicker with doubt and excitement, “It was a pleasure Julie.” Releasing her hands, he walks away with a saunter in his step that is not normally there. Confused Julie looks around and finds Flynn waiting for her before they go back to the locker rooms. That was strange Julie thinks to herself but shaking out her arms moves on.

As Flynn rushes off, Julie takes her time to pack up. Leaving the locker room, Carrie is waiting for her, mood instantly soured Julie turns to her, “What do you want?” 

“Wow I’m glad you’ve finally learned manners,” Carries scoffs. 

“I got your text, we are talking, so talk.” Julie snaps back, quickly losing patience. 

“Fine,” Carrie says twirling her hair around her finger, “I just want you to know, I’m on to you, you better back off with my Dad, or else I’m going to leak your secret.” Stunned, Julie stays quiet, her mind turning, does she know? Is it a bluff? Why would her Dad tell her? Julie quickly realizes its been an awkwardly long silence and Carrie is still standing there, “Okay, sure, I don’t know what you are talking about, but if it gives you purpose, great.” Carrie huffs and walks away, back to her group of friends, or more like followers who are always waiting for her return. 

Julie is pacing the living room floor when Alex and Luke poof in. Alex’s leg is bouncing, and Luke looks excited, Reggie is nowhere to be seen. “Hey guys,” Julie says glad to see them. “Where’s Reggie?” She doesn’t know what they do when she’s at school, but most of the time she assumes they are off together. “He decided now was the time to practice banjo?” Alex says while Luke chimes in about Reggie’s love of country music. Shrugging Julie sits down on the armchair across from them. 

“How’d your dance go?” Luke asks innocently, Julie blushes, “What do you want to know about it?” She doesn’t know why she feels defensive, she doesn’t even like Nick like that, but the question feels loaded. “I think it went okay,” Julie said clearing the awkward tension in the air. 

From the driveway Julie hears a car drive up and then two short honks, “That’s my Dad, see you there?” Luke and Alex nod, and give thumbs up. What dorks Julie thinks to herself while gathering her stuff and heading to the car. Alex and Luke are left alone and as they hear the car pull away, the house is filled with silence, the faint twang of Reggie’s banjo breaking the spell. 

The banjo goes quiet and Reggie appears in the living room, “Did Julie leave?” he asks spinning around, “She’s on her way,” Luke answers. “Then let’s go!” Reggie says grabbing Alex and Luke by the shoulders, smiling and excited. 

They poof to Julie’s dressing room, only to find Trevor Wilson inside. Stunned they stand in silence and shock sharing knowing glances before launching into action, if he wasn’t going to move on, neither would they. Alex grabs the lights, for a more classic haunting and begins to flicker them on and off. Luke heads to write a message on the mirror while Reggie goes directly to Bobby. Reggie’s not normally the confrontational type of guy, but this is personal, and it hurts. It’s not just anger for him, it hurts, more than he thought a ghost could hurt and every time they see Bobby it just feels worse. More purposeful and more vile.

This time Trevor knows what is happening. He stops searching Julie’s room and stands still, and while he doesn’t run away, his hands are shaking and there’s a tremor in his voice, “What do you want,” he asks. Alex leaves the lights off while Luke puts down the lipstick and they all walk over to him, crowding him into a corner. They can’t really touch him, but he shudders as he feels a cold breeze of the dead. “What do you think you’re doing? Huh, trying to hide something?” He says trying to put on a bravado. This isn’t the type of confidence that he carries on stage, this isn’t the trademark Trevor Wilson bravado. This is the bravado of a teenager who knows he has wronged his friends but can’t back down. Can’t accept the consequences. This is the bravado of someone who is trying not to care. Of someone who does not want to care.

So engrossed in scaring Bobby they don’t notice the door opening and Julie’s arrival until the lights flick back on. Ray and Flynn behind her Julie takes in the scene, Bobby scared pressed up again the chair and her room in disarray. A shudder racks through her body, “I’m going to throw up,” she mumbles before running to the attached bathroom at the back of the dressing room. Ray follows, leaving Flynn alone in the doorway.

Flynn takes control. See can’t see them, but from Trevor’s body language it’s pretty clear what they are doing. Pointing at Trevor, Flynn has a plastered on polite smile, “Out.” It’s not a question, it’s a demand and running through Reggie, he walks towards the door, trying to gain his composure but he is stuck by Flynn blocking his way out, “This better be the last time I see you mess with Julie, I don’t think that social media would appreciate you rooting around in an underage girls dressing room?” she says her voice low and calm. Flynn does not step out of the way until she Trevor Wilson comprehend her threat. 

The room appears empty to Flynn, but she knows the boys are here, picking her best guess of where to speak, she faces the chair, “Why don’t you give Julie some space, she’ll be out when she’s dressed.” They file out and Luke makes sure to click the doorknob, so Flynn knows. Turning around to look at her through the door, she is already onto the next thing, furiously texting on her phone. These are the moments when Luke hates being a ghost. It hurts that they can’t be seen. That he couldn’t help Flynn deal with Bobby. Right now, it almost hurts more than not being able to really confront Bobby, because right now he can’t be there for his friend. “Thanks Flynn, for being there for her,” he says despite knowing no one will be able to hear him.


	9. The Show

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time to for Julie to let it all out and show a new audience just who she and what her band is made of.

Stomach empty, Julie is ready. Alone in the wings she can sees glimpses of the crowd but mostly what she sees is the empty stage, a blank canvas for the show she is about to put on. The boys are standing across from her, jumping up and down and getting excited. They were ready and Julie was comforted knowing that they were right here, no last-minute kidnappings this time.

Julie jumped when Simone spoke from beside her, “one minute to curtain,” she then paused and put a hand to her headset, “50 seconds,” she stopped talking and looking at Julie with anticipation. It felt like the longest minute ever but then Julie heard the overhead announcements and Simone held up her hand before giving Julie the signal to go on stage. 

This was her favorite part, Julie walked on stage and heard the roar of the crowd, and while the lights blocked out most of the people, she waved to the crowd aiming for where she knew her family was watching. She was sad that her Mom was not in the crowd, this was everything they had planned and hoped for together, but if the boys were here, she hoped her Mom was also somewhere watching as well.

Julie walked on stage alone, while Flynn, Carlos and Ray now knew why, to the rest of the audience it was part of the act. Even though she was alone on stage, Julie did not look small or out of place. It didn’t look like she was missing a band. She sparkled. The crystal stars twinkled and lay on top of the puffy pink fabric of her dress, catching the stage lights and reflecting rainbows onto the stage and into the audience. Her silver sneakers were quiet as she took her spot at the piano. She took a long look out at the audience before staring down at her hands. 

The anticipation, the flutter in her stomach and the music in her head is all Julie thinks about as she takes a deep breath. The boys are gone from the wing and without looking behind her, she knows that they are standing behind her ready to start playing, ready to be seen.   
The opening chords are slow and steady, a soft piano melody in juxtaposition to Julie’s strong and clear voice that is filled with hope and joy. Julie sings and at the end of the verse, with a sudden flourish, the rest of the band appears. A distorted guitar riff begins and with a last arpeggio Julie is up from the keyboard and walking across the stage. The band is decked out in soft shades of pink, red and for Luke a creamy white paired with a red rose in the lapel of his sleeveless jacket.

It’s magical and soon Julie is surrounded by her band. This show is different, at the Orpheum there was desperation and relief and while that can make good music, joy makes even better music. Alex holds them steady while Julie ventures across the stage towards Luke. The music is inescapable, and the audience has been pulled into Julie’s glow. Reaching Luke, she leads him away from his microphone with hers, and they reach center stage as she trades lyrics for his guitar riffs. Standing less than a foot apart they are staring into each other’s eyes Julie feels suspended in time. She can feel the music around her, hear the audience but she’s frozen in time. For a moment it is just the two of them alone on stage as she stands frozen in his gaze. 

The sound of Reggie’s bass pulls her away and as she turns away from Luke, back towards the audience and the rest of the band, the full effect of the moment hits her. A wall of sound and energy pull her back into the moment. Reaching the last chorus, Julie and Luke’s voices blend in perfect harmony. Alex flips his drum stick before hitting the last stinger and Julie’s voices carries past it as Reggie and Luke’s chord fades away. There is a moment of silence before the crowd thunders up to applause, shout and roar. Julie feels like the calm after the storm, the thunder is distant as she grabs the hands of Luke and Reggie, she can almost feel them, but her hand is empty. Leaning down to bow Julie glances one more time over at Luke searching for that same warm gaze as before. She finds it just as they poof away. The crowd gasps but Julie knows she isn’t alone even as the applause continues on without them.


	10. This band is back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It is their second show and feeling under the weather, Julie worries about living up to the expectation of the night before.

Backstage is frantic as the next band rushes on stage and the stage crew quickly flips the stage around, removing her piano and rearranging the layout. Julie’s out of breath and can feel a slight thrumming coming from inside her, lifting her hand to push her hair back behind her ears she sees that it is shaking as well. Julie brushes it off as adrenaline and goes to find Flynn.

Instead of Flynn, Julie finds the boys, sitting on a stack of pelican cases and watching the chaos of backstage from afar. Smiling Julie walks up and tries to look casual as she talks to the empty space. Holding up a sharpie she swiped from a table, “Let’s go find that wall,” she says waggling her eyebrows. They leap up and follow, “You really killed it out there,” Luke whispered in her ear as he walked past her. A quick glance behind her shows Trevor Wilson looking around as if searching for someone. She closes the door before she finds out who. 

Famished after the show, Julie tears into the snacks out on display in her dressing room and doesn’t look up as the door opens. Ray, Carlos, Flynn and Aunt Victoria all stream in gushing about her performance. Aunt Victoria sits straight down, complaining about being on her feet all day, while Flynn remains standing and comes over to Julie. “You are hot,” she comments, Julie turns and raises her eyebrows, “I mean you are literally radiating heat, those lights must have been hot.” Flynn corrects while Julie continues to devour the snacks, “I’m starving, thanks.” To Julie the dressing room looks crowded with the boys and her family, ghosts and people start to run into each other when there is a loud knock on the door. It’s Simone, come to offer her congratulations and info about the after party that the band they opened for invited them to, “Oh cool, this is great news, that means they loved us,” Luke says, making Julie lose track of the conversation. Ray continues talking to her oblivious to Julie’s confusion as Reggie turns to Alex, “Do you think there will be cute girls there?” while Alex keeps him realistic, “Dude, they can’t see you.” 

Aunt Victoria takes Carlos home. Closing the door Ray turns to see Julie laying out on the couch, “Are you sure you are up for the party?” He asks gently, noting her exhaustion. “Yeah, yeah, let’s go. There might be agents there. I’m just hungry, once I eat, I’ll be good.” But Julie leans back to close her eyes while the boys glance around unsure what to do with the silence. “Thank goodness I’m not a Dad,” Reggie mutters as Ray sits down next to Julie as she sits with her eyes closed for a minute. Flynn sits instantly going after social media to post the behind the scene photos and clips from the show. 

Taking a deep breath Julie holds it in for as long as she can stand before exhaling quickly and opening her eyes. She doesn’t know why she feels so exhausted, she has never felt this way after a show before, but she wants to go to the party, after all they need an agent, and you don’t get far in Hollywood without networking. “Let’s go. Can we get In-N-Out first?” Ray grins, “Monster fries?” Julie smiles back, “You bet.” As they gather their stuff to leave Ray turns with a mischievous smile he asks, “Are they here?” Still marveling at the weirdness of it all.

“Oh yeah, they wouldn’t miss out on a chance like this,” Julie smirks glancing at the guys who are whispering to each other about the party.

\---------

Groaning Julie rolls over to check her phone. 11am. Jolting to a sitting position, the sun is shining through her windows and the afterparty comes rushing back. Agent offers, networking and delicious brownies. But tonight’s another performance and she’s never done back-to-back shows before. There is no rush to get out of bed and for fifteen more minutes Julie enjoys the comfort of her bed before Carlos comes racing in. 

After a breakfast of Ray’s family famous brunch special, Julie’s back in the garage. She didn’t speak during breakfast, but it could just be nerves, or tiredness. It was a late party, Ray figured. Nothing he should worry about. But int the garage, the guys found out why she wasn’t speaking. Having felt a slight pinch in her throat while warming up in the shower, Julie was afraid to talk again. Luke, reading her silence for what it was sprang into action. “Don’t say anything Julie, I know just what you need.” He poofs away and Julie stands there in silence with Alex and Reggie, it’s not quite awkward but Julie didn’t realize how much of the talking Luke did.

A minute later, Carlos walks in with Julie’s computer and his Bluetooth speaker. “Umm, I think I’m supposed to bring this to you?” He said a little confused and a little excited, thinking maybe he had a successful interaction with one of the guys, without Julie around. 

Julie nodded and saw Luke poof back onto the sofa. Carlos turned around, “Dad says we are leaving at 4, we don’t want to get stuck in traffic again.” Julie gives a thumbs up before going to the couch to sit next to Luke. Leaving a little space between them, Julie sits down, wanting to get closer but not wanting to be reminded that she can’t actually accidentally brush his shoulder or leg. They spent the early afternoon watching YouTube. The boys showing Julie their recently discovered favorite videos. While they were 25 years behind, they had a lot of time to catch up, and while they weren’t the fastest at typing and yelled at auto-play every time, Julie had fun. They were way behind on the actual best videos, her favorite being the “Thumbs up for Rock and Roll” Toddler on a bike, but you could never go wrong with some “Cat Flushing the Toilet” video classics. 

To Julie’s surprise, that was Reggie’s favorite. Eventually Julie forgot about the pinched sensation and was fully laughing and relaxed. Before they knew it, Ray was standing in the doorway. It was time to head over. They hadn’t rehearsed, but they didn’t need to. Sometimes a little laughter is all you need. 

At the theatre, it was all a rush. Getting dressed, a quick glimpse of the guys, make up and then a quick sound check before the audience started to filter in. Julie was surprised to find something so special as performing could feel so routine. From the wings Julie could hear the crowd laughing, joking and excitedly waiting for the show. They came for us, Julie thought to herself. This wasn’t a last-minute change, they had planned to come see them. Nerves tingle through her arms and legs, a hot fiery prickle that goes away when she locks eyes with Luke across the stage. 

With no sign of Bobby tonight, they look more relaxed, all dressed up in their reds and pinks, Luke’s rose is white tonight, she doesn’t exactly know how that works, if the clothes are real, but it’s just another thing she doesn’t know. And doesn’t want to know. The thought of a suddenly naked band behind her on stage fills her with terror. She reassures herself the rules of ghost hood have taken clothing into account.

Lost in thought, Julie doesn’t hear Simone start her count down and before she knows it, Simone gives her the cue and Julie walks out. This crowd is more enthusiastic than last night, she doesn’t know how it is possible, but its electric and she feeds on it. Walking out to her piano, the stage suddenly feels so big. Taking deep breaths, Julie tries to relax. One last look to the wings shows the guys waiting and ready to poof on stage. This band is back in action and ready for more. 

Pressing down, Julie plays the first chord and instantly the nerves and fear are gone. Just like it always is, her voice is right there. Never failing. This is it. Every performance is the moment. There is no before or after, better or worse. There is just now, in the music, with her band. And there is nothing routine about it.


	11. After the show

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julie and the boys take a day off, visiting a museum, hanging out at the beach, and maybe even seeing a new friend?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delayed update, my semester started so I will only be able to update once a week now.

Waking up Julie checks her phone, 10 unread messages from Flynn, hundreds of notifications from Instagram. She puts her phone down and falls back asleep. 

It’s 1pm when Ray finally pokes his head into her room, Julie stirs at the sound of her door opening. “What time is it?” she asked groggily, her voice rough with sleep. “1pm,” Ray answered as Julie blinked taking in the sunlight peaking in around her curtains. 

Pacing around the garage, Luke looks up to see Julie walking in with a mug of tea and a scarf around her throat, when she talks, her voice is a little raspy, “No rehearsal today, what do you say we take a field trip instead?” she says with a small smile. 

It’s the late afternoon on a weekend and Julie is surprised that the museum is not fuller, she might not be a normal teenager, but she would assume everyone could appreciate a little bit of art? Its quiet and each wall is a pastel color that contrasts with the gilded frames of the paintings hung up with wires. Only three to a wall, the other patrons of the museum are spread out, in a whole different world. The quite tranquility is a sharp contrast to the concerts from the last couple of nights. Standing in the soft shuffle she can almost hear the whine of an amp being turned on. 

Standing in front of a painting of fruit in a basket with flowers, Julie recognizes a dahlia in the vase. This painting is bright and full of color. It is similar to those other dark sparse vases only in name. This one is full of life and peering closer, Julie recognizes a dahlia. Smiling, Julie feels a flicker of hope, a warmth spreading through her as if a sign from her Mom. Everything is going to be okay. The painting is dramatic in its color and it is realistic rather than idealistic but still keeps its cheer, showing the happy reality of the painter and hopefully the viewer. 

The plaque below shows the name of a female painter. Looking closer, she sees she is even still alive, it’s refreshing to see, and Julie slowly turns to see if there are more by the painter on the wall. The next one over is fruit, but not the regular food. Its full of mangos, tomatoes, and bell peppers. A slight twist on the typical fruit painting. Thinking back to the evenings she would spend with her Mom cooking, the constant longing, the empty piece of herself throbs. 

This museum is full of relics, of memories of those who are dead. This painter is still here, but when she dies, this will be her legacy. Music was her Mom’s passion, and Julie hopes that her own music is honoring her mother. Just as this new artist is building off the old style, Julie is building off of her. This is what honoring a legacy is. It isn’t replacing it. It doesn’t take away from the other artists on the walls. It isn’t a threat. Singing brings her closer to her Mom, it doesn’t erase her. 

Looking away from the painting, Julie sees Luke and Reggie, together in a corner looking at some very contemporary blobs. Luke’s arm is on Reggie’s shoulder as he leaned against him, both snickering at each other’s assessments of the work. Alex is nowhere in sight, wandering away, Julie turned into a room that held a single sculpture in the center with paintings of ballerinas on the wall. The paintings were a combination of motion and stillness through the dashes of color and undefined lines. Standing in the center of the room, stood Alex, as still as the ballerina standing on the pedestal, her faded ribbon tied to her hair and her arms pulled back resting behind her on her tutu. As Julie walked up, Alex turned quickly swiping his hand across his face. 

“Hey,” Julie said gently, “What’s wrong?” 

Alex shrugged turning back to stare at the statue. Julie let the silence sit, remembering how grateful she was when people didn’t force her to talk about her Mom. Staring at the sculpture Julie found a new appreciation for it. The way a small ballerina could be so strong, Julie could recognize that strength. She saw it in her brother this past year, in her Dad and in herself. The way Alex stood, she could see it in him too, strong from having to hide who he was for so many years. 

“I’ve always liked to dance…” Alex started but trailed off. “You’re great at it you know,” Julie said, wanting to encourage him. “My parents didn’t like it. When I finally came out, they weren’t too happy about that either. They liked my drumming you know? That was a ‘manly’ instrument, but anything else I did they disapproved.” Julie stayed silent, not wanting to say the wrong thing. 

“I hope you know, we all love you, dancing, drumming all of it. I think your Carlos’ favorite. Don’t tell Reggie that though,” Julie added and Alex laughed. He rubbed his eyes again and turned to look at Julie, “Thanks, it just feels like I can never win, finally play at the Orpheum? We die. A cute guy likes me? I almost die again. Maybe I’m just not meant for love, happiness, all that stuff.” Alex says shrugging and looking down at the floor.

“Absolutely not.” Julie says as stern as her raspy voice will let her. “We will figure out what happened to Willie, you are already loved though. By Reggie, Luke, me.” Julie tries to put her hand on his shoulder, it falling through she draws it back to herself, “Luke and Reggie aren’t great at showing their emotions,” Alex gives her a knowing look, “but they show it in other ways-” Julie is cut off by Luke’s interjection, “you know we do.” Luke and Reggie come in from the doorway and grab Alex’s shoulders, pulling them into a big group hug. And this time, Julie can feel Alex’s shoulder against her arm. 

Later at the beach, Julie’s relaxing, her eyes closed and listening to the calming sound of the waves crashing against the shore. Hearing a noise, she dismisses it as the boys messing around with their sandcastle competition until she feels a shadow block out the sun. They can’t cast shadows. Opening her eyes Julie does a double take. 

“Hi,” an unfamiliar voice says, darkened by the sun behind them, Julie squints confused by what she sees. Sitting up Julie gets a better look, but it doesn’t exactly clarify things. “Could I get a selfie with you? You’re Julie of the Phantoms, right?” 

“Yeah,” Julie says still unsure. But she stands up fluffing her hair for the picture, “Do I know you?” She finally asks finding no way around the question. 

“No, no. I was at the show last night, I came for the other band, but now I’m a huge fan!” They say snapping a selfie before immediately gluing their eyes to their screen to type out a caption. “Well, thanks, make sure to tag the band!” Julie says with her scratchy voice. The new fan walks away and waves before going back to their own blanket further up the beach. 

With the fan gone, Julie turns her attention back to other person standing in front of the sun. This one didn’t cast a shadow. He has long dark hair, a short sleeve button up shirt paired with cargo shorts and vans. Even though she had never seen him before, Julie had a guess of who it was. Alex typically described him with a skateboard and helmet, but today, he stood empty handed. 

“Willie?” Julie asks dubiously, afraid of offending another fan. But his quick head nod confirmed it. Maybe she was asleep? She must have dozed off. How could she see him? What changed? He glanced around looking at the boys who were preoccupied by their sand creations and unaware of the rising tides threat to their creations, not able to get wet they didn’t notice it coming closer every time. “We need to talk,” Willie says quickly, already walking away, “Wait, Alex wants to talk to you…” Julie called out quietly as Willie started to run. Why didn’t he poof away? Why did he show up just to run away?

“Who where you just talking to?” Luke calls out, looking up from his recently destroyed sandcastle, the rising tide forcing it into the danger zone. 

“Someone recognized us from our show last night, wanted a selfie.” Julie called back, her voice cracking. Alex and Reggie look up, “Fans?” Reggie asks. His sandcastle losing his attention just as the water whisked it away. “Aww man, now I got sand in my pants for nothing.” Reggie complains turning back to his now ruined castle. 

“You don’t have a butt, so you can’t have sand in your pants.” Alex says smashing his hand through his castle, the only to have survived the tide. The three come over and sit by Julie who is back to browsing her phone. Barely even seeing the pictures as she scrolls, questions spin through her thoughts. Does she tell Alex she saw Willie? It seemed that he didn’t want them to see him. Was he being followed by Caleb? Could she trust him? 

“Look that fan just tagged us,” Julie showed them her phone, “We have fans,” Luke muttered to himself, while Reggie looked confused, “tagged? I don’t have tags on my clothes. These aren’t new.” He says holding up his arms to check.

“I think they would actually be considered vintage,” Alex says poking fun at the years they lost. 

“Tagged means they linked their picture to my account. See?” She says holding the phone up so they can see that the post came from a different account. Reggie nodded and Alex tried to touch the screen, his finger going through the phone, Julie scrolled so Alex could see. “That’s a big number,” he said hesitantly. “That’s our followers,” she said with a smile. “Huh,” Alex said leaning back with a smile, “I guess we are taking off.” 

Alex continued to watch as Julie scrolled. “What’s that?”

“What’s what?”

“Something just dinged.”

“Probably a notification,” Julie explains. 

“But that looked like it was for something important.”

“Let’s go see,” she says leaving Instagram and going to the band’s email. 

Quickly skimming the email, a smile grew on Julie’s face, “Guys! We’ve got our first review!”

That grabbed Reggie’s attention. Julie held up the phone for Luke to read aloud. 

“’By chance last night, I watched a band open, but this band won’t be an opener for long. The chemistry and musicianship of this band make them the real deal. Pop inspired by rock’-Hey we aren’t pop,” Luke complains interrupting his reading. 

“Keep going!”

“Okay, okay,” Luke concedes, “This group has it all, a drummer who can sing, a bassist who can swing and a guitarist with killer riffs.’ Literally,” Luke scoffs. “But the real star of the band is Julie. Dressed in pink tulle with crystal stars sewn on, she was a star. Her voice outshone the night. This writer will definitely be on the lookout for their next show, hopefully a full set. I know I’m not the only one who would be happy to call myself a fantom.” Luke stopped reading and all three turned to Julie who had turned red and was on the verge of tears. “Uh, what’s wrong? That was good, they were saying nice things!” Luke said confused. 

“I think they are happy tears,” Alex explained. Julie nodded while wiping her eyes. “I can’t believe they said that. This is a big deal. This is the blog I go to to find new music.” She says her eyes drying already. 

“But they called us pop,” Luke pouted. 

“Dude they can call us whatever they want if that means we are worth listening to,” Reggie shoots back thwacking Luke on the head. 

“That hurt!” Reggie rolled his eyes. 

“Next step, an Agent!” Luke says leaning back on the sand with his arms crossed behind him, content with the trajectory of his band. The momentary hurt of being called “pop” fading. He will show them they aren’t pop, there is plenty of time for that.

“You know, I don’t think we are far away from an agent either.” Julie mused, refreshing her email. “At the party the other night I gave our email out to a few, they said they would contact us.” 

Luke rolls over to his side to look right at Julie. She’s on her back but lifts her head to look at him. They are face to face and Reggie and Alex find anywhere else to look. 

“We couldn’t have done it without you, you know.” Julie rolls her eyes, “I know.”

“I mean it,” Luke insists. “You helped us find a new sound, you’ve made us into more than just a memory. We are about to be something big, and it’s all thanks to you.” Julie tentatively smiles. Luke reaches out a hand to brush a strand of her hair behind her ear. Their faces inches apart. 

“Hey! Julie!” Startling, Julie would have head butted Luke if he weren’t a ghost. 

“Hey!” Ray sits down next to her on the blanket, “Did I interrupt something?” 

“No no,” Julies rushes out breathlessly, pushing her hair behind her ear herself, she blushes. “Okay,” he says his voice teasing. “Are you ready to head back? What’s going on with your voice?” 

“We can go. I’m not sure, I must have overdone it. I’m sure it will be fine.” 

“Okay, you can tell me if somethings wrong though, yeah?”

“I know,” Julie says as they shake the sand off to fold up the blanket.


	12. An Important Email

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julie gets an important email and rushes home to read it with the rest of the band.

Voice still missing, Julie is called into Ms. Harrison’s office, afraid she is slipping backwards. But when Julie talks, Ms. Harrison realizes she has just lost her voice. 

“I saw clips from your concert last weekend. You sounded fantastic.” 

“Thanks, we even got written up in a review on a local blog!” Julie says quietly willing her voice not to crack. It’s been slowly coming back but she hasn’t sung in three days and she is starting to worry she has done something wrong. 

“Show me! Oh my goodness,” Ms. Harrison exclaims. Julie pulls up the link, having bookmarked it on her phone, and hands her phone to Ms. Harrison who scrolls whole reading and nodding to herself. “Fantoms, I like it.” 

Julie smiles again this time a little less reserved, “Thanks.”

“So, let’s sit down, what’s going on with your voice? Do you remember what we talked about in our safe singing seminar last semester?” Ms. Harrison says, taking Julie’s hand as they sit on two chairs together. “Yeah I remember, I didn’t think I did anything wrong. It didn’t feel wrong while I was singing.” 

“Good, good. Well I’m glad you are being cognizant of all that. It sounds like you are already on the mend, so just keep doing that. I’m sure it was just the double feature, the endurance will come with time.” Ms. Harrison says with a smile, looking up as if reminiscing her own double shows.

“Thanks Ms. Harrison, I should get going.” Julie stands and Mrs. Harrison releases her hand but keeps her piercing gaze on her. “Just keep me up to date on everything that’s happening okay? I am on your side. And don’t forget, lots of honey and tea!” Julie lifts her thermos up while standing in the doorway as the bell rings. 

The final bell rings, and Julie instinctively reaches for her phone. Scrolling the notifications, she pauses, an email from Andi Parker from Destiny Management is sitting in her inbox. Running down the hall Julie searches for Flynn. Flynn has been there for her from day one, it would be wrong to leave her out of this moment. This moment! This is it! This is what they all have been waiting for. This is the boys’ dreams delayed. 

Julie finds Flynn and they book it home. Flynn is bouncing with excitement but understands Julie’s need to wait to read it with the boys. Expecting them to be practicing, they are surprised to find the sounds of a barbershop trio. Julie turns to Flynn giving her a look when she sees Flynn hears it too. How can she hear them? Is that even the boys? 

Carlos is sitting on the sofa, the boys standing in front, arms splayed out, singing in three part harmony. Flynn and Julie stand in the doorway looking confused but unnoticed. They didn’t catch the beginning of Carlos’ question, but Flynn turns to look in the general direction of the boys when they start singing, “Yes,” in harmony with each other. 

“What are you guys doing?” Julie demands, walking over, towering over Carlos. 

“I wanted to get to know them better.”

“Is that why you have your iPad filming?” 

“It’s for research… they can be heard when they sing,” Carlos says trailing off, as Julie reaches over and turns the recording off.

“Not for your silly ghost hunting YouTube channel?”

“No… I know ghosts are friendly now.” 

Flynn is still standing there poking at the air as Reggie pokes her back. Carlos gathers his things to head inside, off to edit his video. 

“Next time just have them type an answer on your computer,” Flynn says with a wink as Carlos leaves. 

The boys still standing, Julie and Flynn sit down on the couch, faces series. “We’ve got an important email.”

Luke looks to Reggie and Alex before they turn to Julie, “And?” They sing in three-part harmony. Flynn’s laughing, but Julie speaks over them.  
“I got an email from an agent.” Everyone is instantly sober, the room filling with anticipation. 

“What’s it say!” Luke says three-part harmonies forgotten. 

“I waited for you guys before reading it, it’s from Andi Parker, the one from the coffee shop.”

“Maybe it was meant to be, you know because she’s from Destiny Management.” Reggie offers.

Everyone rolls their eyes except Flynn, who without the barbershop trio is left in the dark, “Okay just read it!” 

It’s an offer for representation. After reading, Julie jumps up on the coffee table to dance. Luke and Reggie jump up and line up as Alex jumps up onto their arms and gets spun in a circle before Luke falters and Alex slips down and hits the floor. If he weren’t a ghost, it would have been a large thud. Alex merely groans, “It still hurts when you drop me.” He says from the floor, staring up at the ceiling with a dreamy look. They’ve got an offer from an agent. This is the moment, when everything is about to come together. These are his favorite moments, the ones where things are lining up neatly into place. Everything right as they are supposed to be. 

Walking in, Ray looks confused and is about to Julie scold for dancing on the table when she leaps into his arms. It used to be a thing, he’d come home, and Julie would come running. He would drop whatever was in his hands (most of the time nothing important, they broke a few mugs though) and she would leap into his arms, when she was smaller, all the way up, now as she is older, just a hug. But a hug of epic proportions. And Julie hasn’t given him one of these hugs since her mother passed away. Since then, it has been gentle hugs. Long hugs, tight hugs and reassuring hugs. This was a hug of happiness and he dropped the newspaper he was holding and opened his arms, staggering back with the force of her running into him. “We’ve got an offer from an agent,” Julie whispers into his chest. 

“WHAT?” He grabs Julie’s arms to push her back and stare into her face. She breaks out into a grin and nods. Ray is instantly on the table, Julie now on the sofa, celebrating with Flynn. Winding down, a wave of exhaustion hit Julie, sitting back on the sofa, they all gathered around her staring at her phone, still open to the email. “What now?” Julie hears one of the guys ask, but it sounds far away, and each blink gets longer and longer. Almost asleep Julie is jolted awake by Flynn’s shoulder bumping into hers, “huh?” Julie mumbles as she sees her dad holding her phone and typing away. “Shouldn’t you be doing that,” Luke asks, leaning over her shoulder. Julie breathes in deeply, wishes to get a whiff of his shampoo or the scent of musty mothballs from his sweatshirt, but he is dead. And he doesn’t have a smell, so Julie must merely imagine it. “I’m a minor, its probably more official if it comes from him.”

“How does that sound?” Ray asks and Julie realizes she missed it again. “Yeah great!” Julie answered, wanting to hide her confusion. She was starting to get tired of being tired. But didn’t really know what to do about it. Maybe it was connected to losing her voice, she wondered. What could cause both?  
“Great, we’ve got a meeting for Friday then,” Ray stood up, handing Julie her phone back, “I’m so happy for you, but remember, you are a minor, so it’s all got to go through me. I cc’d my email so she has that one now, but make sure you don’t send anything without me.” Heading out the door, to one of his shoots he turns around giving a grin and a thumbs up. 

“Shall we rehearse?” Luke asks, taking Ray’s spot on the couch, Alex and Reggie lounging on the floor leaning against the table and armchair. Julie opens her mouth to speak but instead muffles a yawn. “I think I’m going to take a nap. You guys rehearse without me.” 

“Sure, sure.” 

“Can I stay?” Flynn asks, “are they rehearsing?”

“You won’t be able to see them, I’m not staying.”

“But I can hear them?” 

Julie nods, getting up from the couch, a wave of dizziness hitting her, that she quickly hides by leaning over to grab her phone. 

In bed, Julie drifts into a sleep filled with a glittering nightclub and a cheering audience. Phone buzzing, Julie wakes up to Flynn’s ring tone. Eyes bleary with sleep, it takes a minute to focus her eyes to see the time. 9pm. Julie blinks the sleep from her eyes, how could she have slept so long? It’s too late to rehearse now. 

Julie answers the phone on the last ring, “What’s up?” she says trying to sound cheerful and more importantly awake. Her voice sounds normal, but despite her nap, Julie feels drained. Laying in bed, Julie listens as Flynn talks, about the band’s rehearsal and eventually moving on to her new crush. Julie listens to Flynn’s voice, a steady presence. Solid. Gathering the energy and the willpower, Julie climbs out of the comfort of her bed for a snack, hoping the exhaustion was from forgetting to eat. 

The kitchen’s empty except for Reggie, sitting at the table and reading through an old cookbook. “What have you got there?” Reggie looks up, “Are these your recipes?”

Julie pauses before walking to the refrigerator, “They were my moms, we would cook together from them sometimes.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry.”

“It’s fine, we haven’t made anything from it in a while, my Dad’s not the best cook.” Julie sighs, closing the refrigerator and walking to the counter with peanut butter in hand. 

Hesitantly Reggie starts and stops speaking. He seems to have settled on silence before trying again, “I uh, used to cook with my Mom a lot too.” 

Julie stills, silently chewing her sandwich not wanting to disturb the moment. This is the first time he has talked about his parents and it means a lot to her. 

“Food was one of those things, they would fight all the time. But when we were eating? They would stop. It was tense, but it was quiet. You know?” He says leaning back in his chair hands going to his lap, the cookbook open to a random page. 

Julie sits down across from him, “There is something special about food.” Reggie nods, “I can’t believe I died from a bad hot dog,” he is shaking his head in disbelief, “Of all the ways to go.”

They sit in silence as Julie contemplates her sandwich and Reggie continues to browse the recipes. Finishing her sandwich, Julie notices he has stopped flipping through the pages and actually reading it. 

Reggie looked up and met Julie’s eyes, the somewhat dopey look that was always on his face shifted. He looked wistful, “If you ever want to try one of these, I’d be happy to help.” He said, standing up and placing his hands on the back of the chair, already back to the regular Reginald, no nostalgia in sight. “Well enjoy your sandwich, we’ve got a Charlie’s Angels marathon to finish tonight.”

He poofed out before Julie could respond, “You are a man of mystery,” she muttered to herself before tucking herself in on the couch and starting the endless pile of homework.


	13. Meeting with an Agent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things aren't going well but the day is looking up because the band has a meeting with Andi Parker of Destiny Management.

Julie was starting to get worried. They had only rehearsed once this week and their meeting with Andi was looming closer. Each day she came home, got her snack and promptly fell asleep. She had thought, almost losing her voice was bad, but never getting the chance to sing? To be taken out by a wave of exhaustion every time she tried? It was somehow worse. At least before she knew how to fix it, but this, she had no idea what was happening. The band was patient, but they were all getting snappy, deprived of their favorite things. There are only so many hours they could practice alone, and with nothing but time, they started to explore the city again. 

“What exactly are these minion things?” Reggie asks. It’s dark outside but the neon glow of a city that never sleeps, and a city walk that’s never quite empty light the paths enough to see by. Standing in front of the Despicable Me attraction the guys are confused. 

“This must be a new movie…” Alex trails off looking around. They walk in silence looking around, the park is empty but the lights to the attraction still glow, giving colors to the shadows. “I remember this show!” Reggie declares as they pass the Simpsons, “I can’t believe it’s still on, my Dad used to watch it.” Luke and Alex remain silent, looking at the giant doughnuts and pastel colors of the characters blown up on the sides of buildings and the fake restaurants. It’s not creepy in the dark, but it feels like its missing something. 

Luke and Reggie keep walking, but Alex pauses at the Indiana Jones ride, “I loved these!”

“Really?” Luke says, confused, “I didn’t really think they were your type of thing.”

“Harrison Ford was kind of hot,” Alex responds, ears turning pink. Reggie comes over to slap him on the back, “You are right about that,” he whispers in Alex’s ear before he speeds up to catch up to Luke. They leave the rides behind for the trams. They had never visited when alive, but somehow all the old movies and nostalgia felt familiar. Finally, some celebrities that they could recognize.

The scene in front of them is full of destruction. Twisted metal is scattered on a field, with trash and debris scattered around. Looking around, it’s clear that something terrible happened here. Or at least it was supposed to look like something terrible happened. A fake airplane crash. Standing on the top of the hill, they could see just a few hundred feet away empty houses, beyond that empty buildings ready to transform into any city at a moment’s notice. 

They lay in the grass, surrounded by fake scenes and fake cities, a whole other side of Hollywood, filled with facades and illusions. The type of illusions that are not supernatural, merely ordinary in their mundane routine of creating something from nothing. This is what they were about to embark upon, a Hollywood dream. They’ve got an agent, maybe a tour soon, and all based on the illusion of life. 

Luke, Reggie and Alex spread out on the ground, watching the sun rise and the city wake up, reveling in the fact that they get to be a part of it. It isn’t exactly what they imagined. But dreams and hopes don’t die the same way a life does. And so, if their dreams keep living, they get to keep hoping. They stay there as the first tram tours start to drive by, the tourists oblivious to the ghosts that haunt the wreck of the airplane. 

“Do you think Julie’s looking for us?” Reggie asks squinting up at the sun that has now made its way to the middle of the sky. 

“Our meeting isn’t until she gets out from school.” 

“Isn’t that soon?” Alex says as another packed tram drives past them. 

“Let’s go find out.” Luke says lifting his arm to block the sun from his eyes, but not casting a shadow. 

The three of them poof away to the garage, the tourists never the wiser to the fact that their tour was even haunted. 

********************************************************************************************************************************************************************

“Is that why I’ve been sleeping so much? I got stamped?” Julie asks, horrified. 

Poofing in the boys are caught off guard. Willie and Julie are standing in the middle of the room. Willie is in cargo shorts and a tie dye shirt, long hair pulled back into a loose bun, skateboard and helmet nowhere to be seen.

“Woah, woah, woah!” Alex says stepping in between them with his arms out. His arm goes through Julie but his other arm rest against Willie’s chest. Willie steps back and Alex puts his arms down hurt. “What is going on? Why are you here?” The last question comes out softer, the hurt in Alex’s voice apparent. If Willie was okay, why didn’t he come to check on them? To confirm they had crossed over?

“I…I’m sorry Alex. I couldn’t see you! Caleb forbid it.” Willie is speaking to Alex. He speaks as if they aren’t surrounded by the rest of the band. For Alex, the world shrinks to just one person, staring at Willie he is lost for words. Thrilled that Caleb didn’t destroy him. Alex had not realized how heavy that guilt felt until it was gone. 

“So then why are you here? Why don’t you start at the beginning?” Luke says, breaking the illusion for Alex, “Are you here to tell us that we’ve been cursed again?” Luke’s tone is angry, and Alex doesn’t understand why. 

“Dude, what’s wrong? It’s not Willie’s fault Caleb stamped us! What’s your problem?” Alex says confronting Luke and finding his words again. Alex always feels small, as if he does not take up a lot of space but standing up to Luke. Standing over Luke, Alex feels real, he feels grounded. He can’t tell if its Willie’s presence, standing up for him or everything at once, but it feels like he does when he is playing the drums and has hit his groove. Only now, he isn’t hiding behind his drum set. 

“Look man, I’m sorry. Caleb’s forbidden me from seeing all of you. But, he’s…weak right now. He can’t follow me in his current state. He took my board, but that’s all he could do. But there isn’t much time until he’s back to full strength. Which is why I’m here.” 

On his last sentence, Willie turns from Alex to look at Julie, who is standing clutching her arm and looking sad. Alex wants to go to Willie, hug him, hold his hand. But he also wants to protect him and instead stands frozen. Willie still exists, but he is in danger. They all are.

Alex takes a step to Willie, but he puts out a hand, “I’ve already told Julie what’s happening, I’ve got to go before they notice I’m gone.” Willie moves towards the garage door and with one leg through it turns around, staring only at Alex. “You know where to find me.” And he’s gone. Alex lets out a breath and runs his hands through his hair. He glares at Luke who won’t meet his eyes. 

The garage is quiet, and Alex sits in the armchair. Eventually Julie starts to talk, “Have you guys been noticing anything strange?” 

“We all thought it was just…you know… that time of the month…” Luke says turning slightly pink, Alex and Reggie stare at him horrified. “I did not assume that, I don’t cater to stereotypes.” Reggie says crossing his arms and glaring at Luke. Alex stands in silence, wanting nothing to do with this part of the conversation. 

“I’m just going to pretend no one said that…” Julie answers, momentarily forgetting the fact she has been stamped by Caleb and he is stealing her voice, her soul. But only momentarily. Julie sits down on the couch. “I’m not really sure how to say this, but I guess I’ll uh, just spit it out.” The boys are quiet unsure what she’s about to say. They should all be happy, Willie’s okay, they are about to meet with an agent. After everything that’s happened, this should be a happy moment. But it’s not, she’s been stamped. What happens when a lifer gets stamped? Do you become a ghost? What about her Dad? Carlos? Julie is overwhelmed with questions. She can’t go through this again. 

Luke finally looks at Julie, his embarrassment washing away when he realizes her silence isn’t anger. She’s scared. 

“What did Willie say?” Luke asks gently, wishing he could touch her elbow, or shoulder. Show her he is there for her. But his hand going through her arm, just another reminder that they aren’t really alive. 

“You know how I lost my voice last week?” Julie starts. The guys nod along, “So we had this dance performance last week, and it turns out Caleb has been possessing Nick, so when we danced together, he- he stamped me.” Julie looks up with tears in her eyes. 

“Willie says he’s draining my life force, my energy. It’s why I’ve been sleeping so much and my voice has been acting weird. Willie’s never seen Caleb do this before so he doesn’t know if it will turn me into a ghost or just steal my voice.” They all sit in silence, Reggie subtly wipes his face and Alex puts a comforting hand on his shoulder, “Sorry it’s just, seeing other people cry… it gets me you know?” He mutters to Alex. 

Luke looks as if he wants to speak but closes his mouth when nothing comes out. What is there to say? How do you comfort someone about this? Julie breaks the silence again, “What are we going to do? What happens to you if I can’t sing anymore?” 

Luke stands up with a rush of anger, “Let’s go, we need to confront him, didn’t you say he was weakened right now?” Alex and Reggie stare at home, “Dude, he almost had us before, we can’t just go in there and demand he release Julie!” Alex says. 

“He’s right,” Reggie agrees. 

“Okay then, we do the same thing as before,” Luke says, “We find your unfinished business.” 

“I don’t have unfinished business, I’m not a ghost.”

“Everyone’s got something they want, that they need to achieve,” Alex chimes in. Luke nods, “See?” 

“Okay so what? I have a band, we almost have an agent. We had a show last weekend, shouldn’t that have done it? What would make the next show different?” Julie asks while growing increasingly frantic. 

“What if I can’t sing by our next show?” Julie says her voice getting smaller, dropping her head into her hands. “I’m sorry guys, I’m letting you down again.” 

The anger drains out of Luke and he poofs closer, grabbing her hands, and this time he can. He doesn’t know why, but he accepts it for now. A small part of him wonders if Julie being stamped means they could be together, but he quickly banishes it, nothing that hurts Julie could have a good outcome. In this moment, a surge of warmth flows through him, he wants her to live forever even if it means they can never be together. Julie gasps as she can feel the warmth in her hands. Looking into his eyes, she can see his conviction. To help her, to save the band and most importantly at this moment, for them to stay all together. No one is going to get left behind. No one is going to be alone again. 

Leaning in for a hug, Julie is interrupted, “JULIE! Let’s go, we are going to be late!” Ray calls from the driveway. Wiping her eyes Julie takes a deep breath and mutters to herself, “I wanna cry, I’m calling out, for one more try to feel alive.” Reggie and Alex poof out to the car and her unsuspecting Dad leaving Julie and Luke alone. “Fight through the dark and find the spark,” Luke sings into her ear before poofing away as well. Julie shivers at the closeness of his voice and goes outside. One thing at a time and now, it’s time to sign with an agent. 

Destiny Management is on the top floor of a fancy high rise, in the elevator Julie has to refrain from shushing the boys, not wanting to disturb everyone else. Finally after the other passengers get off on a lower floor, it’s just her Dad and her band. Julie turns to them, leaning against the mirrored walls trying to look casual. “I know you guys are excited, but if you don’t behave this contract is as good as gone. Got it?” She glares. The fear and despair from just a little while ago is gone and has been replaced with determination. 

In the waiting area, Julie sits with her Dad, while the boys wander around the receptionist’s desk and walk through walls getting a feel for the place. Alex follows Reggie into the wall across from them while Luke sits down beside Julie. “This is the real deal, big leagues level fancy office,” he says leaning back a stretching, knowing that Julie won’t answer for fear of being overheard. Staring at the wall Reggie and Alex walked through, Luke deicides to play a game. The distraction would be good for her based on the speed at which her leg is bouncing. 

“Did you know that all four of us got Sunset Curve tattoos? Do you want to guess where?” Luke teases. Julie rolls her eyes and looks at the large fish tank taking up almost half of one of the walls. 

“I met Alex in an afterschool Acapella group.”

“I have fallen out of a total of three boats in my lifetime.” 

This gets a feeble snort out of Julie who still refuses to look over and instead examines her nails. 

“On our second gig as Sunset Curve, I ripped my pants during my guitar solo.” 

Julie taps her toes unamused. 

Luke pauses, he’s having fun, but is running out of things to say, she hasn’t cracked yet and he doesn’t know what will make her. 

The click of high heels can be heard and Alex and Reggie come stumbling through the wall, “Someone’s coming!” Reggie says excited. 

Getting closer, right against her ear, Luke whispers, “I want to kiss you.” Julie turns to look at him finally. Their faces are an inch apart and the door opens to reveal Andi Parker. 

“Hi Julie, Ray, it’s wonderful to see you again, let’s go back to my office to talk.”


	14. Steps toward a future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julie is running out of time and so Alex, Luke and Reggie make a plan to hopefully save Julie before she fades away completely.

The kitchen is quiet as everyone eats their celebratory meal. Julie and the Phantoms officially has an agent, and they went to their favorite diner to celebrate. After the meeting Julie sent one text to Flynn before putting her phone down to fall asleep. Lying in bed, Julie felt exhausted, she could feel sleep pulling on her mind but all she could think about was Luke. What he had said right before they walked into the meeting. 

What happens if she wants to kiss him too? How does that work with a ghost? Could it mess up the band dynamic? Does she even want to kiss him back? That would mean opening her heart up to loss again. She fell asleep to thoughts of Luke, but her dreams quickly twisted to a more sinister place. There he was again, Julie had never seen him, but the man in the purple velvet jacket had to be him. In her dream Julie stared at his back, taking in the club and the empty bandstand. When he turns around, his glowing eyes meet hers and Julie is jolted awake. 

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

At school, in a daze, Julie walks straight into Carrie who drops her books and looks up enraged. Julie leans over to pick them up, not wanting to start an argument before class. While Julie would normally say, it’s not worth the effort, today she doesn’t even have the energy to care. Julie hands Carrie back her textbooks as Carrie smirks. Exchanging them, Julie is surprised when Carrie hands her a note in response. 

Mind foggy, Julie asks a question she instantly regrets, “Do you know how Nick is doing?” 

Carrie stares, shocked at her audacity. Only rolling her eyes, Carrie saunters away. Julie’s left feeling drained. She has no idea how to get through this day let alone this week. How is she supposed to break this curse without singing? One thing Julie knows for sure, they are running out of time. 

The garage sits quiet again and while Carlos and Ray notice, they don’t want to say anything, worried about what this means. In bed, the boys sit around her on the floor. Julie is relieved at their presence in her room despite her previous rules. Alex taps out rhythms on the floor while Luke hums melodies scribbling in his notebook. Reggie plays through chord changes with his fingers and Julie listens silently. Enjoying the moment. Staying in the moment. Maybe being a ghost won’t be so bad, she’d get to hang out with them all the time. They’d still get to make music. But watching them, Julie also saw all the things they were missing out on, the friends, their family, they are stuck in time. They don’t get to be present like she does. 

Laying there, Julie’s brain caught up with the day, what was that note that Carrie gave her? Sitting up suddenly, all the boys look up, “Can someone pass me the crumpled note on the top of my backpack?” 

Luke’s poofed away before anyone can respond. Seconds later, he is standing by her side, handing her the note. 

“That was fast…thanks.” Julie finishes. Luke blushes but stays beside her, a hand wavering behind her back, unsure if he should try resting it there. Insteade puts his hand down when their fingers brush while handing over the note. This time it was his turn to shiver from her cold fingers. They were running out of time. 

Julie reads in silence before groaning and falling back against her pillows. 

“What did it say?” Reggie ventures. 

“Carrie is going to post that I stole from Trevor Wilson, that our music isn’t original.”

“So what? Not that many people will see it, right?”

“Yeah no. Carrie has hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram, the perks of being the daughter of a rock star. It will blow up.” 

“So, we’ve just got to give proof that its original.” Alex says, calm and undeterred. 

“We could… use this as a chance to show he stole from us?” Luke says cautiously. They’ve moved on mostly, but this could be their chance. To clear the air, to gain recognition. 

Julie sighs. “I don’t know guys.” They fall into an awkward silence that no one wants to break. Soon her breaths even out and Julie is asleep. Again. With a look, the boys poof out to the garage, leaving Julie to rest. She had wanted to start rehearsing again tonight. But it looks like their plans have changed again. On the couch, they huddle up to make a game plan. 

“We are running out of time. We had two weeks before the jolts got too strong. It’s been almost two weeks now.” 

“I know, I know. But how do we stop it? Alex can you go talk to Willie?” Luke says trying to stay calm. But he is having a hard time, Julie is fading before their very eyes and he feels useless. Her vitality, her voice her energy, it’s all draining away. 

“I’m going to go talk to him,” Alex says before standing up to poof away. 

“We can’t figure out her unfinished business without a band, let’s go take care of the whole Carrie situation.” Reggie says to Luke. For once the logical one. Luke’s feelings for Julie are obvious, and Reggie can tell its tearing him apart. Reggie clasps a hand on Luke’s shoulder when he finally looks up. 

“We are going to figure this out okay? We aren’t going to let Julie fade. Just one thing at a time.”

Luke nods, placing his hand on Reggie’s. They poof away together. 

******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Alex stands by himself in the corner of the museum. The exhibit has changed but the concrete ramps and walls have stayed the same even if the paintings and sculptures are made of different materials and painted with different techniques and colors. Maybe this is sort of what being a ghost is like, Alex wonders as he wanders around hoping for a glimpse of Willie. Things change, but the foundation stays the same. At the beginning, being a ghost was so different and everything kept changing, but now Alex feels himself settling. He has established himself in this new identity of being a ghost. It feels less scary and new. 

Moving to the next painting Alex starts to wonder about their fate if Julie faded, when he felt a quick tap on his shoulder. Turning around, Alex sees Willie. He still didn’t have his skateboard, but he looked unharmed. Alex swept him into a hug before either of them could say a word. Willie’s hair smelled of rain on asphalt and they stayed like that until Willie pulled away. 

“We have a lot to talk about.” 

“Yeah,” Alex breathed out. 

The gallery was busy, but they found an empty bench looking out the floor to ceiling windows. Outside people went on with their lives, the world kept living, while Willie and Alex stayed still. 

“How have you been? Are you okay?” Alex says turning to Willie while tentatively placing his hand beside him. Willie grabs it, and squeezes. They sit like that, hand in hand, while Willie stares out the window before answering.

“Caleb was mad when you guys got away. He knew you didn’t cross over, he could tell when the curse had been lifted.” Willie stops to take a deep shuddering breath and Alex squeezes his hand in reassurance. 

“He knew I had helped you, he doesn’t know how you lifted the curse, no one has ever done that before. He was about to unravel my existence, but he needed to consult his book before, and that’s when he figured out how to go after Julie. That’s the only reason I’m still here.” Willie gives a tense laugh, “I once again screwed you guys over. I’m so sorry, Alex.”

“No. No way. This isn’t your fault. You saw how determined he was. Once we started getting gigs, he would have found us no matter what.” 

They sit there in silence until a guest of the gallery sits down on their hands, they break apart and laugh breaking the tension. Maybe it’s time to find a new spot. 

Outside the gallery, the sun is shining, and it would be a perfect day if the threat of Caleb wasn’t looming over them both. They walk along the path holding hands until Alex abruptly stops. 

“What did you say about a book?” 

“I’ve only seen it a couple of times, but he always comes back more powerful after consulting it.” 

“Do you think that’s where he gets the stamps and the curses? Do you think it could tell us how to reverse them? Maybe we could lift your stamp to!” Alex says turning so that he is facing Willie. Willie’s smile is hesitant. “I don’t know. I don’t know my unfinished business, if I anger Caleb again, that would be it for me.” 

Running his hands through his hair Alex lets out a yell of frustration before just sitting down in the middle of the sidewalk. Willie squats beside him. “It’s going to be okay, we will figure something out even if it isn’t that book. There has got to be others out there that can help.” 

“Your right, I’m sorry. It’s just too much.” People walk through Alex, and he doesn’t care. A week ago, it would have mattered, but now it’s the least of his worries. Two of the people he cares the most about are in danger, and there is nothing he can do. Right as he feels settled, everything comes unravelling. “I just want to play the drums, have a loving boyfriend and be a part of a killer band. Is that too much universe!” Alex shouts the last part up. 

Willie smiles, “What’d you say about a boyfriend?” 

Alex blushes, “I just want a future, with you, with my band and with my friends.” Now Willie is blushing, and he finally sits down beside Alex, letting the people on the sidewalk pass through him as well. “We will figure it out, I think the first step is to find someone with another copy of the spell book.” 

“Okay, okay yeah. There has got to be a copy. I’ll let the guys know, we can start looking.” Having a clear task, finding a book helps and Alex’s face fills with determination. Willie always knows exactly what to say. In a moment of brass courage Alex leans over to give Willie a quick peck on the cheek, “I’m going to go update them. Stay safe Willie. For me?” And poofs away. 

Willie sits there silent, a smile on his face letting the pedestrians pass him by. 

******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

When Luke and Reggie poof into Trevor Wilson’s mansion, they do not expect to find a party raging. Trevor Wilson, Bobby, their fourth bandmate stood at the center of it all. The previously pristine mansion is a mess, drinks spilled on the floor, furniture knocked over, and people everywhere. 

Steering clear of Bobby, they go off to search for the evidence Carrie claims to have found. Starting in what appears to be an office with a recording set up, Luke wanders to a filing cabinet filled with sheet music. Flipping through, he stops and pulls a piece out. Reggie stares at the walls, covered in posters and awards earned off of stolen music. Coming over to peer over Luke’s shoulder Reggie asks, “Isn’t that your chicken scratch?” 

“Yeah.” Luke says not even offended by the insult. 

That’s when they hear the sound of a faint electric guitar. Looking behind them, they turn toward what they thought was a bathroom, opening the door, the guitar gets louder. They walk through a narrow hallway until they come to a soundproofed room with guitars hanging from the walls. 

“You shouldn’t be in here!” A voice calls out.

“Can she see us?” Reggie asks concerned.

“She probably just heard the door.” 

They walk into the room and see her. Carrie sits on a chair, with one of her dad’s guitars on her lap, playing the melody of an old sunset curve song. 

“That’s one of ours,” Reggie whispers. Luke nods but doesn’t say anything until she finishes playing. Carrie looks up and they then notice that she has been crying. 

“Who is there?” She calls out before noticing the paper hovering in thin air, held by Luke’s hand. Her face gets pale, but they give her credit because instead of screaming and running away, like Julie’s first instinct, she slowly puts the guitar down and stands up. Luke holds still as she walks up to pluck the music from the air. Carrie walks over and places it on the music stand before pulling up the guitar and studying the chords. Before she can strum the first one, Luke summons his guitar and starts to play. 

Reggie stares at Luke, confused and thinking that this is exactly what he had been yelled at about doing, but now that Luke thinks it’s a good idea? No yelling. Typical. 

After the introduction Luke begins to sing and Carrie becomes unfrozen, searching the room for the source of the voice. “This isn’t funny.” She calls out. 

“Julie? What is your band doing here?” 

Luke keeps singing, walking around the room to look at the guitars until he stops in front of an old red electric guitar. When he finishes singing, he looks up to notice that Carrie is standing beside him, in front of the guitar. 

“How did you know that song, it’s in the same handwriting as all of his old ones but I’ve never seen this one before?” Carrie asks, her voice small and cautious. 

Luke reaches out to pluck the strings on Bobby’s guitar from when they were in Sunset Curve, the dust and the out of tune twang tells Luke how many years its been since its been played. Since Trevor Wilson was Bobby. Using the pencil on the music stand, Luke writes: Ask your Dad about that guitar. He stole OUR music, I didn’t steal anything from him. Carries comes over just in time to see the pencil placed back on the stand while Luke and Reggie poof away. 

“Julie! What did you do?” Carrie calls out, but all the doors are shut and the room is empty again. Alone in the middle of the raging party, she is surrounded by the silence of her father’s past.


End file.
